Iran’s Central Bank says it has supplied $18 billion in foreign currency for essential imports and production while stepping up efforts to curb inflation and expand non-inflationary financing for the economy.
TEHRAN – IranView24
Iran’s Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati has rejected claims that the country is facing a monetary deadlock or economic collapse, saying the government has maintained access to foreign currency resources while expanding financial support for production.
Speaking at a banking conference in Tehran on Tuesday, Hemmati said the Central Bank had supplied more than $18 billion in foreign currency since the beginning of the current Iranian year to finance imports of essential goods, medicine, agricultural inputs and raw materials for domestic production.
He added that the bank was prepared, if necessary, to inject up to $2 billion into the foreign exchange market to help manage demand and maintain market stability.
Hemmati said Iran’s economy continues to face significant pressure from sanctions and regional tensions, but argued that monetary and prudential measures had helped curb the accelerating pace of inflation in recent months.
“Inflation and rising prices have placed considerable pressure on people’s livelihoods,” he said, adding that the Central Bank’s immediate priority was to contain inflationary momentum before moving toward a sustained decline in inflation.
The governor also highlighted a sharp increase in bank lending. According to Hemmati, Iran’s banking system had extended more than 40.5 quadrillion rials in loans by early September, marking a 69 percent increase compared with the same period last year.
Of that amount, he said, around 26.5 quadrillion rials had been directed toward industrial and productive sectors, representing an 80 percent year-on-year increase in financing for production.
The Central Bank is also preparing a new credit package aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in the second half of the year, with a focus on employment and business recovery.
Hemmati said the bank was expanding supply-chain financing instruments to support industry without increasing the monetary base and adding to inflationary pressures. Such financing has reached 2.24 quadrillion rials so far this year, with a target of 7 quadrillion rials by year-end, he said.
