BIM Loans for SMEs Top $600m

Bank of Industry and Mine has doled out 23 trillion rials ($613 million) in loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises since March 2016 as a part of the stimulus scheme for SMEs, the bank’s website announced.The stimulus package was announced by the government at the beginning of the previous year in March 2016 as part of broad efforts to fight a long-running recession and prop up weak demand in the economy.According to the BIM statement, SMEs received 135 billion rials ($3.6 million) from the bank during the two months ending May 21, creating 208 jobs in the process. According to the report, 116 SMEs have already been revived by BIM’s credit line. In June 2016, the Central Bank of Iran ordered banks and credit institutions to allocate a minimum 10% of their loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises to help create jobs and lift the beleaguered production sector.