Gov’t Augments CBI Deposits

According to the latest data released by the Central Bank of Iran for the month ending February 18, government deposits with CBI reached 412 trillion rials ($11 billion) and registered an 11.3% and 20.7% increase on a monthly and year-on-year comparison, respectively.

This could be a result of the government's plan to move all its accounts from state-owned and private banks to CBI.

Figures also show that banks were keeping 1.289 quadrillion rials ($34.5 billion) with CBI in reserve requirement. The amount grew by 22.1% compared with the previous year's 1,064.1 trillion rials.

Private banks and non-bank credit institutions accounted for the biggest share of reserve requirements at 972.5 trillion rials ($26 billion). These institutions accounted for 75.5% of the total figure, showing a growth of 22.3% compared with the previous year.  

The three commercial state-owned banks experienced a 29.7% surge in their reserve requirement year-on-year to reach 241.8 trillion rials ($6.5 billion), accounting for 18.75% of the total amount. The smallest share of reserve requirements go to five specialized banks also owned by the government at 5.75%.

The Iranian private sector's deposits in banks and non-bank financial institutions reached 11.79 quadrillion rials ($315 billion) by February 18, marking a 24.6% growth year-on-year.

Private lenders accounted for 71.5% of the savings to reach 8.4 quadrillion rials ($225 billion) and register a 23.1% growth compared with the same period of last year.

Commercial state-owned banks with 2.2 quadrillion rials ($59 billion) and specialized banks with 1.1 quadrillion rials ($30.7 billion) accounted for 18.7% and 9.8% of the total savings, respectively.

The report indicates that the private sector's debts to banks sharply grew by 25.6% during the period compared with the correspondent period of last year to exceed 8 quadrillion rials ($215 billion). Specialized and commercial banks accounted for 20.3% and 15.4% of the total debts, respectively.