Rial’s Slide Necessitates Bank M&A

A senior banking official said the steep fall in the value of rial against the US dollar has strained banks’ balance sheets by dealing a blow to their capital levels. 
Kouroush Parvizian, the head of the Association of Private Banks and Credit Associations, wrote in a commentary published on the website of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture that the forex rate surge in recent months has devalued banks’ capitals, lowering the capital of some of these banks to below $1 billion. 
In the wake of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which led to the lifting of sanctions, many Iranian banks started to improve their financial statements and bring their practices in line with international standards. Private lenders have been at the forefront of these efforts. 
According to Parvizian, one solution proposed by Central Bank of Iran officials pertains to the merger and acquisition of banks.