Addressing senior bankers, Mohammad Reza Farzin asked banks to follow rules on the cap on deposit rates and added that "law-abidance of banks is crucial for maintaining discipline in the banking sector," CBI website reported Thursday.
Earlier this month local media reports said some state banks had started offering higher rates on deposits. A report by EcoIran Web TV said some state-owned banks had raised interest by up to 25%. Both state and private banks were charging between 24%-25% on loans from the previous 18%.
The Money and Credit Council (MCC), the top decision-making body of financial and monetary markets, is expected to endorse the higher rates. Former CBI chief Ali Salehabadi in the final days in office last month had spoken about the possibility of higher rates.
EcoIran TV quoted an informed source as saying earlier that the regulator had decided to increase interest on deposits by 5%.
In mid-2020 the MCC increased interest rates on one-year maturity deposits by 1 percentage point to 16%, on two-year deposits the rate was set at 18%. For short-term deposits with 3-month maturity it was hiked by 2 percentage points to 12%.
The CBI last week said that it has sacked heads of bank branches for flouting rules guiding deposit rates. Last week the CBI said it was inspecting bank branches more closely to ensure they are offering interest in accordance with caps set by the (MCC).
In a press release the CBI said some banks were also fined for violating the rules. It did not name names nor say which banks were in breach. The CBI though added that most banks are playing by the rules and that it would rigorously continue the inspections.