Page 35 - IRANRptAug21

8.1.3 Deposits
Iran’s sight deposits grow at whopping 90.7% annualised rate
Sight deposits placed with Iranian banks grew at a whopping annualised rate of 90.7% in the first half of the Persian calendar year (March 20- September 21), far outstripping term deposits, the Tehran Times has reported.
With money supply in Iran expanding at a tremendous speed, the soaring use of sight deposits reflected people’s reluctance to keep money in banks for extended periods as they anticipate prices will rise at a higher rate than the interest rates on offer from local banks, it added.
Total sight deposits rose by Iranian rial (IRR) 2,572.5 trillion ($8.7bn at the official rate, $61bn at the free market rate) in the first half period to reach IRR5,407.4 trillion and were up 47.7% during the six months in question, according to a cited Central Bank of Iran (CBI) monthly report.
8.1.4 NPLs
CBI gives Iran’s NPL rate as 10%
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) calculates that Iran’s overall bad debt now stands at 10% of the total debt market in the country, according to a late May Iranian Banker Journal report.
Around IRR1 trillion of bad debt existed in Iran; however other figures suggest the figure of non-performing loans is higher, with banks struggling to retrieve assets due to old-fashioned regulations which mean it takes a very long time to clear debts.
Iran’s overall NPL figure stood at 18%, according to prior CBI statistical releases. The reason behind the supposed improvement in NPL clearance is the Rouhani cabinet's move in February to approve the penalty waiver for loans amounting to IRR1bn.
8.1.5 Bank news
Fate of ‘$8.5bn owed to Iran but stuck in Korean banks depends on US election outcome’
Iran's frozen capital in South Korean banks amounts to $8.5bn and the release of the money “depends on the outcome of the US presidential election”, head of the Iran-South Korea Chamber of Commerce, Hossein Tanhaei, has reportedly said.
Speaking to the state-run Iran Labor News Agency (ILNA), Tanhaei claimed that negotiations between Tehran and Seoul to release the blocked funds—largely earned on past oil sales and which South Korea has declined to transfer given the threat of US sanctions—have failed so far, adding: "Both countries are waiting for the result of the US election."
Tanhaei also said that Iran had proposed a barter agreement to South Korea, with an initial focus on food and medicine deliveries and a gradual inclusion of “petrochemicals, home appliances and automobiles” in trade exchanges. Jahan-e-San'at newspaper reported on October 15 that due to US sanctions around $40bn of Iranian hard currency assets in countries around the world was frozen. Of that $20bn was said to be stuck in China.
Also according to its report, India owes Iran $7bn, South Korea $6bn, Iraq $2bn and Japan $1.5bn. Iran lately struck a barter deal with Baghdad focused on food and medicines to allow it to utilise the capital frozen in Iraq.
Tehran has previously threatened to sue South Korea over its capital frozen in Korean banks.
Before the reimposition of heavy US sanctions in 2018, South Korean annual
35 IRAN Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com