Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 15/ Trend G.Mehdi/
The debt of Iranian banks to the Central Bank amounted to 536 trillion rials (about $43.7 billion) in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20), showing 42.6 percent rise compared to the same period last year, the Fars News Agency reported.
In comparison to the corresponding figure two years ago, it rose by 175 percent.
Khabar Online website recently brought up Iranian Central Banks' statistics, reporting in November, that government's debt to the banking system has seen a sharp increase in the last three years, as the amount reached $38,3 billion (by the official USD rate in Iran) of the before mentioned $57 billion.
Khabar online reported that from June 2008 to June 2009, government's debt rose by $5 billion, and later somewhere in 2011-2012 the figure increased by $12 billion.
Other "internal problems" include the willingness of Iranian banks to grant long-term loans from short-term deposits, and inability to monitor and manage the given loans on the previous year transaction archives.
Speaking of the factors that affect Iran's banking system from the outside, one of the major ones is the impact of international sanctions on Iran's economy and banking sector.
Minor Iranian banks are also in debt to Iran's Central Bank, as it has reached 370 trillion rials (some $30 billion) in the first quarter of the past calendar year.
Debts of commercial banks and specialized banks amounted to 136 trillion rials and 239 trillion rials, respectively.
In early 2012, the U.S. and its European allies imposed sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.
On October 15, the EU foreign ministers reached an agreement on imposing another round of sanctions on Iran.
The embargoes followed suspicions that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, which Tehran has strongly rejected.
Iran argues that as a signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.