Agriculture Entitled to 10% of NDFI Earnings

As much as 10% of the National Development Fund of Iran’s annual earnings have been allocated to the agricultural sector, a deputy agriculture minister said.

Speaking at the inauguration of the First Fruit Industry Exhibition on Monday, Abdolmahdi Bakhshandeh added that the agriculture sector received 20,000 billion rials ($522 million) from NDFI’s local currency reserve in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2017), a majority of which was offered to farmers in the form of banking facilities, IRNA reported.

“Additionally, about $1 billion were allocated last year from NDFI’s foreign currency reserves to the Agriculture Bank to help agricultural producers import equipment,” he said.

NDFI, Iran’s sovereign wealth fund, was established in the 2000s to save oil revenues to develop Iran and invest overseas for future generations. The fund currently has $91 billion in reserves.

According to Bakhshandeh, the budget allocated from NDFI’s foreign reserves can be utilized by manufacturers and enterprises for expanding fish farming businesses, mechanizing production activities, purchasing fishing boats, or purchasing packaging equipment. The First Fruit Industry Exhibition is being held at Tehran’s Olympic Hotel and will run until August 25. Iranian producers as well as representatives from Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Turkey and Qatar are participating in the exhibition.