Tehran, Iran, August 27
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
The Iranian government has settled 740 trillion rials ($23.7 billion, at 31,180 rials per USD) of its debts by converting the assets of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) in foreign currencies into the rial.
Some 450 trillion rials of the sum has gone into settling government debts to banks, Parliament Economic Commission Chairman Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi told Fars news agency August 27.
The remaining 290 trillion rials has gone into settling part of the debts owed to foreign currency creditors, marked off for conversion surplus from foreign sources that have not been received (such as frozen or confiscated assets of the CBI), or allocated for fixing currency rates, Pourebrahimi stated.
Currency rates are going to be fixed in Iran by the end of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 20), Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia said on the same day.
A report from late 2015 put the government’s debts at 2500 to 3000 trillion rials.
The government’s debt grew very rapidly during the administration of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
However, Rouhani managed to lower the debt growth rate greatly, for the government managed to establish good financial discipline.