The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) in its latest figures has put the country’s foreign debt at $6.497 billion, down by more than a fourth compared to figures announced in late March 2022.
According to CBI figures cited in a Wednesday report by the semi-official ISNA news agency, Iran's long and mid-term foreign debt was $4.723 billion, accounting for 72.7% of total debt owed by the country to foreign banks and financial organizations.
The share of short-term debt from Iran’s total foreign debt dropped by 1.5% compared to late March last year, said the report by ISNA.
Iran has committed to a policy of avoiding international borrowing despite being subject to a harsh regime of economic sanctions imposed by the United States.
The sanctions have barred Iran from engaging in normal international oil trade while imposing restrictions on the country’s access to the dollar-based global banking system.
To offset the impacts of sanctions, the Iranian government has sought to diversify the economy away from oil revenues by relying more on its domestic resources and by encouraging more activity in the non-oil sector of the economy.