TEHRAN – A Central Bank of Iran (CBI) official announced here on Monday that the non-oil exports fetched Iran $16.3 billion in the first half of last Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2006).

Attending the Export and Banking Services Conference, the CBI Deputy Governor Mohammad-Ja’far Mojarrad added that the revenue is beyond the figure targeted by the Fourth Five-Year Socioeconomic Plan (2005-2010).
He said that the non-oil exports need to increase to decrease the country’s dependence to oil exports.
Non-oil exports will be facilitated when banks and exporters have enough information about their needs, he noted.
Mojarrad added that some $900 million worth of direct facilities was paid to the exporters during 2001-2006, announcing that a $3 billion budget was also earmarked for the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) and Bank of Industry and Mine (BIM) last year.
He obligated the CBI and other banks to reduce bureaucracy and obviate all the limitations in the exports sector in an attempt to encourage exporters.
Mehdi Ghazanfari, the deputy commerce minister, said that the exporters are in desperate need of state support.
Ghazanfari, also the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI), added that the loans and facilities paid by the government in 2005 were less than the exports volume.