Knowledge-Based Firms, Impaired Loans, Agitation and Silence

Unpaid loans of knowledge-based companies until December 21 amounted to a staggering 70.1 trillion rials ($535 million), Central Bank of Iran data shows. The development has triggered social media frenzy.
CBI data was published recently using jargon undecipherable even by most tech experts. However, when it was reported in simple terminology at the weekend by a local news website, the debt amount made banner headlines and led to hot discussions on social media platforms like Twitter.
On its website on Feb. 24 the CBI said the impaired loans to knowledge-based companies was 70.1 trillion rials ($535 million) of which 18% (13.1 trillion rials/$100 million) is bad debt.