Two Major Lenders Hold General Meetings

The annual general meetings of two major state-owned banks, Bank Melli Iran and Bank Maskan, have been belatedly held and their balance sheets for the previous fiscal year to March 20, 2017, were approved. The general meeting for BMI, the largest Iranian bank, was held in the presence of its CEO Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Masoud Karbasian and representatives of the Central Bank of Iran, IBENA reported. Hosseinzadeh referred to BMI as the anchor of banking system and presented a report on measures taken by the bank since the nuclear deal was implemented, including a reduction in the bank’s ratio of non-performing loans and a rise in correspondent banking relations. The economy minister also headed the annual general meeting of Bank Maskan, which was also attended by Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi. The main topic of discussion at the meeting was the longstanding plan of turning the agent bank of housing sector into a specialized development bank, with Karbasian promising to pursue it through the government, CBI and the Money and Credit Council.