TEHRAN – Ninety-seven industrial and mining projects have been financed through the foreign exchange reserve fund (Forex Fund) since its establishment in 1998.

Some 27.7 trillion rials (about $2.7 billion) has been allocated to the projects creating job opportunities for over 37,000 people across the country, the Mehr News Agency quoted the Ministry of Industries and Mines as saying on Tuesday.
The projects run the gamut of pharmaceutical and food industries, weaving, steel, tiles and ceramics, plastic products, packing industry, car making, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, dairy, cement, and glass.
Most of the projects have been implemented in Tehran Province, followed by Qazvin and Isfahan provinces respectively.
The administration of former president Mohammad Khatami created the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund in 1998 as a reserve for surplus oil revenues and to channel them towards development projects undertaken by the private sector.
It was also stipulated that the fund should not be exploited to meet the government’s current expenses