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local banks including Melli, Tejarat, Saderat and Mellat.
The CBI chief did not state how much the Sharia-compliant interest rate would be.
“I am confident that the measures taken by the banking system will see growth in the country’s production and economy,” Hemmati said at the bond launch. The Rouhani administration has issued several Islamic bonds during its tenure, including bonds to support investment in oil and gas.
Bonds have been previously touted by the administration as a way to generate revenue outside of the usual income sources.​ ​Oil sales continue to remain weak​ ​in the face of US sanctions, though there are wide differences between estimates of how much crude is managing to export.
“This is a budget to resist sanctions ... with the least possible dependence on oil,” Rouhani told parliament in remarks broadcast on state television in early December on the coming fiscal year’s state budget. “This budget announces to the world that despite sanctions we can manage the country.”
9.0​ Industry & Sectors 9.1 ​Sector news
9.1.1​ Oil & gas sector news
Report concludes at least quarter of Iran’s oil rigs out of actions as US sanctions bite
At least a quarter of Iran’s 160 oil rigs are out of action as US sanctions strangle the Islamic Republic’s vital oil industry, according to a Reuters review​ of financial documents and industry sources.
If correct, the news agency report released on March 10 indicates a potentially long-term blow to Iran’s oil industry. ​The lack of rig activity could damage the OPEC member’s capacity to produce oil from older fields. They require continuous pumping to maintain pressure and output.
The US has been attempting to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero since May last year.
The Islamic Republic, meanwhile, must now contend with the sharp fall in oil prices brought about by the impact of the coronavirus epidemic and the failure of Russia and Saudi Arabia to agree another OPEC+ agreement to curtail oil production rates.
Some of Iran’s oil rigs are reportedly out of action because they can’t be repaired. Sanctions have made it more difficult and expensive for Iran to buy and import spare parts.
Iran relies entirely on imported parts for its rigs, said Mohsen Mihandoust, a director at Iran’s Society of Petroleum Engineers was cited as saying. In a decade of work in oil and gas drilling in Iran, Mihandoust said he had never seen a spare part that was not imported, with most coming from the US or Europe.
“We are still dependent on other countries,” Mihandoust said in an interview with Reuters. “It is like learning to work with a TV remote control, but still having no clue how a television is made.”
Sanctions had driven up the costs of spare parts as much as five-fold, making it not feasible to repair the rigs, he added.
Iran bought dozens of new and second-hand Chinese rigs in the last decade, but the core parts of those were still American, two industry sources were quoted as saying.
34​ IRAN Country Report April 2020 www.intellinews.com