Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has pledged to provide cheap loans worth $4.5 billion to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the fiscal year to March as the government seeks to help the SMEs gain a better share of the business and economic activity in the country.
CBI governor Abdolnasser Hemmati said on Monday that SMEs would have access to resources of up to $1,000 trillion rials drawn from the private and state-run banks in Iran in the current calendar year.
The announcement came a day after the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the government should provide more support to the SMEs to let them play a more prominent role in empowering the Iranian economy.
“The SMEs should become active across the country .... the expansion of the SMEs would benefit everyone and every location as it can create wealth,” said Ayatollah Khameni in his televised speech to the Iranian nation.
The remarks came in line with the Leader’s other directives about the need for the Iranian economy to become more resilient against the impacts of foreign sanctions.
CBI governor Hemmati said the number of SMEs that received cheap loans from the government increased by 57% in the year to March 2021 to more than 27,000, adding that the SMEs received some 850 trillion rials ($3.86 billion) worth of cheap loans over the past calendar year.
Writing on his popular Instagram page, Hemmati said the government will stick to its policy of supporting the SMEs as a key driver of employment and growth in the country.