TEHRAN, Iran, July 28
Trend:
Governor of Tehran Anoushirvan Mohseni Bandpey has announced that the government has paid some $226 million to the production units of the Tehran Province, which have been heavily hit by COVID-19, Trend reports via IRNA.
"The US sanctions and the economic situation caused by coronavirus have increased the need to support the production units, so the government has allocated credits to these units,” Bandpey said.
"A week ago, a total of $3.8 million has been paid to the production units affected by the coronavirus. The figure has increased to $226 this week," said the governor.
Bandpey said that to date, 21,661 loan requests of the coronavirus-affected businesses and individuals have been reviewed and sent to banks.
Delivered in partnership with several private banks and the National Innovation Fund, the Iranian government has for the third time announced a new coronavirus package to protect small and medium sized firms stimulating innovation in the country.
This includes investment fund for small companies impacted by the crisis, made up of funding from government and the private banking sector. Knowledge-based companies focusing on research and development will also benefit from the new grants and loans.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.
The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019.
The Islamic Republic of Iran only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.