Gov’t Denies Borrowing From CBI

The administration of President Hassan Rouhani in its two terms has not borrowed anything from the Central Bank of Iran, the Ministry of Economic and Finance Affairs announced in a statement.

"Since the administration commenced work in 2013, it has not borrowed a single rial from the central bank even though it faced several credit crunch," the statement published on the official news portal of the ministry reads.

The announcement came in response to a recent article in Kayhan, an Iranian newspaper affiliated with conservatives, claiming that the Rouhani administration has borrowed 100 trillion rials ($2.44 billion) from the central bank only in the first six months of the current fiscal year to Sept. 22.

"The budget deficit has more than quadrupled in the Rouhani administration," the article claimed.

The ministry noted that there is a difference between the government's revolving funds and the government's borrowing from the central bank. Then it noted that the paper does not mention a source for the data, adding that "none of the figures alluded to in the article is confirmed".

As per the law, the ministry said, the government treasury is allowed to tap into CBI resources equal to 3% of the annual budget each year, provided that it returns the drawn funds by the fiscal yearend in March.

The ministry explained that all the funds have been drawn in accordance with the law and will be returned in full to the central bank within the next few months.