BMI Issues Islamic Bonds Worth $1.2b

Bank Melli Iran issued 3,092 Islamic Treasury Bills worth over 47 trillion rials ($1.2 billion) during the first quarter of the current Iranian year (started March 21). According to data published on the bank’s official website, 38 trillion rials ($996.6 million) and 8.7 trillion rials ($228.2 million) of the total value of Islamic bonds accounted for their release at the national and provincial levels respectively. The total allocation of ITB in the previous fiscal year (ended March 20, 2017) stood at 49 trillion rials ($1.29 billion) and in the year before, reached a meager 6 trillion rials ($157.3 million). Iran’s economy is heavily dependent on its banking system, which is hampered by large mounds of bad debts, punitively high interest rates and a double-digit inflation rate