TEHRAN- Facilities worth 1.6 trillion rials (about $38.09 million) have been paid to the production projects with the physical progress of over 60 percent in Khuzestan Province, southwest of Iran, during the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-October 21), according to a provincial official.

Amir-Hossein Nazari, the head of Khuzestan Province’s Industry, Mining and Trade Department, also put the total allocated fund for the whole year at four trillion rials (about $95.23 million), and expressed hope that the remaining fund will be paid to the production units through cooperation of the banks and related organizations.

Following a program to support domestic production in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19) which was called the year of “Pick-up in Production” by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyed Ali Khamenei, over 15 months from February 20, 2019, to May 20, 2020, a total of 2,500 production units were referred to the country’s acting banks, of which 737 units have received facilities amounted at 40.4 trillion rials (about $961.9 million).

According to the data provided by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the Iranian banking system paid 9.749 quadrillion rials (over $232 billion) of facilities to domestic economic sectors in the past Iranian calendar year, 26 percent more than the preceding year.

Last year, the Industry Ministry implemented several programs for promoting domestic production and increasing exports which included supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and reviving the country’s idle production units.

The ministry is continuing to pursue the mentioned programs in the current Iranian calendar year which is called the year of “Surge in Production by the leader.

In this regard, CBI has been supporting the ministry by offering facilities to the production sectors.

Back in May, CBI Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said promoting domestic production is the main priority of the country’s banking system in the current Iranian calendar year.

Hemmati mentioned the CBI strategies for supporting domestic production, saying: “The Central Bank has taken effective measures, including granting facilities to production companies, small and medium enterprises, and knowledge-based companies to support this sector.”

MA/MA