TEHRAN (MEHR - Trend )
The managing director of Iran's National Cooperative Fund stated here on Saturday that the cabinet has approved the establishment of Cooperative Development Bank.
IRIB quoted Mashallah Azimi as saying that the Bank will be furnished with 5 trillion rials (about $503.5 million) out of the Foreign Exchange Reserves Fund as the initial capital.
He added that 373 branches of the National Cooperative Fund are currently active in the country, according to IRIB.
Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani has promised to supply the initial capital for the establishment of Cooperatives Development Bank.
Managing Director of Cooperatives Fund Mashallah Azimi told the Mehr News Agency on May 12 that the proposed bank would start operation this year.
"The Cooperatives Fund will give loans to cooperatives within a year till the bank is inaugurated," he added.
Azimi noted that the fund''s branches are ready to convert into a bank.