TEHRAN, Iran, April 23
Trend:
The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) announced that free-interest loans will be gradually deposited to the accounts of the households in the country.
"The Central Bank is ready to provide loans of $4 billion to the accounts of 17.2 million households,” Abdolnasser Hemmati wrote in his Instagram post, Trend reports.
The CBI bank governor stressed that the loan will be gradually transferred to the accounts of those heads of households who registered their national code in the relevant system.
He added that the government has approved a large package of measures aimed to help low-income households and struggling businesses impacted by the rapidly spreading coronavirus.
"All decisions and policies taken over the past few weeks have the objective to protect the health and lives of the people, as well as to improve the economic and social development," Ali Rabiei, an Iranian government spokesman, said on April 15
As the sanction-hit Iranian government tries to contain the pandemic while managing the fragile economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecasted a six-percent drop in Iran's gross domestic product in 2020.
Last month, the government applied for a $5-billion emergency loan from IMF. Amid some reports that the US is trying to block Iran's attempt to access the funds, the IMF announced on April 22 that it was "still assessing" Iran's request.