Tehran, Iran, Apr. 29
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
The Iranian Parliament has passed a bill that authorizes the Central Bank of Iran to oversee the country's non-bank credit institutes.
The MPs ratified outlines of a bill on an explanation request that had asked the central bank whether its regulations subjected non-bank credit institutions.
The bill passed with 145 positive, two negative and eight abstention votes, IRNA news agency reported April 29.
Iraj Nadimi, deputy chairman of the Parliament's Economy Commission, said during the Parliament session that there are 7,000 loan funds in Iran, many of which are not legally authorized.
The MP urged the central bank to oversee the activities of these institutions.
Finance and credit institutes hold 20-25 percent of total liquidity in Iran, Central Bank official Hamid Tehranfar said Jan. 17.
The amount of liquidity is usually more than the figure that is announced, because the liquidity, which is held by some finance and credit institutes, is not taken into account. He put the country's total liquidity at 5300 trillion rials (about $213 billion).
Edited by CN
Mehdi Sepahvand is Trend Agency's journalist in Iran, follow him on Twitter: @mehdisepahvand