BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
There are currently 22,000 bank branches in Iran, and this figure should be reduced to 12,000, according to the calculation of gross domestic product (GDP), area, and population, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Abbas Memarnejad said, Trend reports citing the ministry.
According to the deputy minister, the activities of 344 bank branches have been suspended since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2020), 903 bank branches in the last Iranian year (from March 21, 2019, to March 20, 2020), and 523 bank branches in the preceding Iranian year (from March 21, 2018, to March 21, 2019). And this process will continue in the next Iranian year (from March 21, 2021, to March 21, 2022).
“About 170 trillion rials (about $4.04 billion) worth of additional assets and shares of banks operating under auspices of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance of Iran have been sold since the beginning of the current Iranian year,” he added.
Memarnejad noted that of this, 91 trillion rials (about $2.16 billion was accounted for shares and 75 trillion rials (about $1.78 billion) for additional assets.
The deputy minister also said that the value of shares and additional assets of banks under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance exceeded 390 trillion rials (about $9.28 billion) in two years (December 22, 2018, to December 21, 2020). If the situation in the Iranian capital market becomes stable, other large companies under the auspices of the banks may also be put up for sale.