Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 8
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran's National development Fund has deposited $2.7 billion in domestic banks and double that sum will be allocated by the banks as loans to the private sector, IRNA reported.
According to the law, NDF's share of oil revenues has decreased by six per cent equalling $2.7 billion. The sum will be deposited into the banking system and double that sum will be paid to the private sector as loans for implementing development projects, IRNA quoted presidential deputy for planning Mohammad Kordbacheh as saying.
Amid contradictory statistics announced in recent weeks by Iranian officials about the assets of the National Development Fund, Head of the State Inspectorate Organization, Nasser Seraj, put the figure at $54.5 billion, ISNA reported.
On November 4, Seraj referred to contradictory data which was announced over the NDF assets asserting that the fund holds $54.5 billion.
Data about the NDF assets varies between $32 billion and $50 billion. First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri has said the fund holds $32 billion, while ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put the figure at $50 billion.
Meanwhile, ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Mahmoud Bahmani and the Chief of Staff of President Hassan Rouhani, Mohamamd Nahavandian, have announced that the fund holds $40 billion.
According to Seraj, some $24 billion of the assets have been handed over to the banking system to be allocated for the implementation of development projects. The Central Bank has drawn over $18 billion from the fund for different purposes he added, but did not provide any information about the remaining $12 billion.
The NDF was established in 2010. The NDF assets amounted to $49.9 billion in the past Iranian calendar year, he said.
Iran transfers 20 per cent of its oil revenue to the NDF.