Iran’s Bank Melli leading supporter of SMEs, startups: CEO
Iran’s largest lender Bank Melli (BMI) has offered huge support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups, says the top man in the bank.
Bank Melli’s CEO Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh said on Saturday that the bank had provided tens of billions of rials in funds to industry owners, SMEs, services and commercial units in the past Iranian calendar year which ended in March.
Hosseinzadeh said startups and the so-called knowledge-based companies had also “benefitted” from the support offered by Bank Melli.
The official would not elaborate on exact figures and the interest rate of the loans given to the Iranian SMEs and startups.
However, he said that it was a policy of Bank Melli to support manufacturing and production activities to help government decrease unemployment and inflation in Iran at a time the country is struggling with economic impacts of sanctions imposed by the United States.
“I believe that if the sanctions are to be circumvented, that could only be accomplished by an active private sector,” said Hosseinzadeh, adding, “Our duty is to ... empower the private sector through offering them an all-out support.”
The BMI is the first national and commercial retail bank of Iran which is currently viewed as the largest bank in the Islamic world and in the Middle East. Estimates in 2016 showed the bank earned over $3 billion in income, the largest recorded for an Iranian company that year.
The bank is a major component of Iranian government’s development plans as it holds huge resources that could be used for financing construction projects across the country.
Bank Melli has suffered from bans imposed by the US in its previous round of sanctions which ended in 2015 when Iran and world powers reached a major nuclear agreement.
Iran reports further drop in annual inflation rate in December
D-8’s role in Iran’s economy after Cairo summit
Iran’s mining, metals exports at $8.8bn in Apr-Nov
‘All wars have rules. All of those rules have been broken’ by Israel
VIDEO | Report flags India’s violation of rights of Rohingya detainees
Turkey's foreign minister meets Syria's de facto leader in Damascus
'Next to impossible' to rescue patients from Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital: Director
VIDEO | Vietnam current prosperity
Report blames gasoil exports for shortage at Iranian power plants
VIDEO | Hind Rajab Foundation names Israeli war criminals vacationing after Gaza genocide
VIDEO | Australians rally for Gaza ahead of Christmas festivities
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
