Azerbaijan, Baku, Sep.29/ Trend R.Zamanov/
Assets of the National Development Fund of Iran hit $54 billion, Gholamreza Zardashti, an official with the NDF said on Sunday.
"The NDF has so far inked contracts with 18 domestic banks," the Mehr News agency quoted Zardashti as saying.
Deputy Head of National Development Fund Qasem Hosseini said earlier this month that the international sanctions imposed on Iran have affected the country's National Development Fund.
"But still NDF will fill the gap caused by the absence of foreign investors," the IRNA News Agency quoted Hosseini as saying.
"The foreign firms have halted financing Iranian projects," he said, adding that foreign investors are not eager to invest in Iranian projects due to sanctions.
Hosseini went on to note that the NDF has approved to invest 20 billion dollars in 380 mega projects.
Deputy Head of National Development Fund Mohammad Mazra'ati said on September 2 that National Development Fund plans to invest 10 per cent of its total assets in international markets.
Assets of the National Development Fund of Iran stands at over $52 billion, the Mehr News agency quoted Mazra'ati as saying.
"Iran's National Development Fund currently ranks 21 in the world," he added.
The fund holds foreign currency gained through exporting crude oil, natural gas, gas condensates, and oil products.
In April, ISNA quoted NDF board member Mahmoud Dodangeh as saying that assets of the NDF may reach $70 billion in the current Iranian calendar year.
If projected oil revenues are gained, the fund's assets will hit $70 billion by the end of the year, he noted.
The NDF's assets amounted to $48.5 billion in the past Iranian calendar year, he said, adding that the figure had been predicted to reach $50 billion.
In December 2012, the Mehr News Agency quoted NDF official Ehsan Sharifi as saying that $7.7 billion of the assets has been allocated to 25 oil, gas and petrochemical projects.
The NDF has earmarked $17 billion for implementing different projects in agriculture, industry, and energy sectors, he added.
Iran transfers 20 percent of its oil revenues to the NDF.