Total assets of Iranian banks was 107,065.4 trillion rials ($334.5 billion) at the end of the first calendar month of fiscal year to April 20.
It was 46% higher y/y but down 3% on a monthly basis, the Central Bank of Iran reported at the weekend.
Foreign assets of the banks shot up 51.8% y/y -- from 15,599 trillion rials ($48.7b) in April 2021 to 23,679 trillion rials ($74b) on April 21 this year.
Non-government companies owed 35,880.6 trillion rials ($112b) to banks in the said period, posting an annualized 48.4% rise.
Government and state-owned firms and organizations had 6,479.3 trillion rials ($20.2b) in debt, which was 8.5% higher on the same period last year.
Assets of commercial banks stood at 19,114.4 trillion rials ($59.7b) by April 20 – up a whopping 78.1% from April 2021.
Foreign assets owned by commercial banks were in the region of 2,389.8 trillion rials ($7.4b) that was a 77.6% increase from the year earlier.
Non-government sector’s liabilities to commercial banks was put at 7,590.3 trillion rials ($23.7b) registering 103.5% growth y/y.
Five state-owned specialized banks held 14,779.7 trillion rials ($46b) by April 21, rising 51% from the same time a year earlier. Their foreign assets reached 3,952.3 trillion rials ($12.3b), ckimbing 78.6% on the earlier year.
CBI Assets
Total CBI assets reached 11,973.4 trillion rials ($37.4) in the said period, rising from 10,036.8 trillion rials ($31.3b) in the first month of last year or up 19.3% y/y.
According to CBI data, foreign assets reached 7,207.4trillion rials ($25.5b) of the total assets by April 20. This was 11.9% higher compared to the same month the previous year.
Increase in bank foreign assets is seen as the main driver of expansion of money supply in the past few months. Most forex assets of the CBI and banks are blocked overseas due to the 2018 US economic sanctions.
Total debt of the government and its companies to the CBI crossed 1,759 trillion rials ($5.4b), which was 3.2% higher y/y.
The annualized rise in government debt was remarkably lower than the 34.7% in the corresponding month of last year with the CBI linking it to the government’s refusal to borrow for discretionary spending as it was the norm in the past.
As per the data, government and state-run companies’ deposit with the CBI rose by 39.6% by end of the first month of the current fiscal year to reach 2,434.6 trillion rials ($7.6b).
The CBI said banknotes and coins by April 21 were worth 991.3 trillion rials ($3b), which was 20.7% higher from the earlier year.
Of this amount, 848.7 trillion rials ($2.6b) is circulating among the public, 126.3 trillion rials is held by banks and 16.3 trillion rials held by the CBI.
Debts of banks to the CBI accounted for 1,430.8 trillion rials ($4.4b) of CBI assets in the year to April 21 -- up 24.4% on the same time last year but down 2.2% on a monthly basis.
Banks and credit institutions had 5,142.8 trillion rials ($16b) in deposits with the CBI in the mentioned period.
