December 29, 2017
As part of the government’s plan for lenders to do away with excess assets and become more agile, more than 150 trillion rials ($3.6 billion) worth of bank properties were sold in the last Persian year, the economy minister announced.
“This volume has resulted from selling [the banks’ excess assets] according to the official data of the banks from last year, but it is not yet satisfactory in light of the total volume of excess assets,” Masud Karbasian was also quoted as saying by the ministry’s official news portal.
The official stressed that banks must strive to make their assets liquid to support the production sector with more loans.
The banks accumulated assets, mostly in the form of real estate, during the housing boom of 2011-12, which proved to be a bubble that ended in a long-running recession.
A committee comprising the Economy Ministry, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the Audit Organization of Iran has been formed to receive reports of banks offloading excess assets, Karbasian said, adding that Bank Melli Iran, Tejarat Bank and Bank Sepah have so far handed in their reports and the rest will follow soon.
Addressing the recent surge in foreign exchange rates, he attributed that to the approach of Christmas, asserting that after the Iranian month of Dey (ending January 20), “foreign exchange rates will embark on a falling trajectory as rate management is actively implemented.”
“The government is not increasing forex rates and we will continue to manage the rates,” Karbasian emphasized.
