Page 41 - IRANRptDec21

Iran’s wealth fund to inject $150mn to help boost ailing stock market
hardline government will drive for too hard a bargain.
Following the Tehran market close on November 16, head of the Iranian Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) Majid Eshqi said that the government was following new approaches to avoid pre-ordered pricing on the bourse.
“The government's policy, in the long run, is to avoid pre-ordered pricing. This policy has been repeatedly stressed by the president and the government's economic team and has been placed on the government's agenda,” Eshqi was quoted by Mehr News as saying, adding that supply and demand should be the only determining factor in setting share prices.
Iran’s sovereign wealth fund, the National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI) is set to deposit $150mn with the country’s Capital Market Stabilization Fund (CMSF) to help boost the ailing Iranian stock market, official news agency IRNA reported on November 7.
Citing officials from the NDFI, the news service said that the payment would be made before the current Persian calendar month concludes on November 21. Based on an earlier NDFI decision, the money would be provided in the form of a loan at 12% to be repaid in five years, but with a maturity that could be extended. The CMSF is responsible for paying the principal amount plus interest.
The CMSF was created in 2017 to help resolve a credit crunch on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). It has a mandate to support the stock market and safeguard the interest of investors. The fund was launched with an initial Iranian rial (IRR) 3 trillion ($71.4mn at the official exchange rate, $11mn at the unofficial free market rate), with capital borrowed from the NDFI.
Iran - Financial market as of Sep as of Apr as of Nov as of Jan as of Jun 2021 2021 2020 2020 2019
Equity market index: Tehran Stock Exchange (TEDPIX)
1,374,891 1,207,850 1,350,899 427,139 248,533
Market capitalisation: % of GDP
176.88 59.2% 59.2% 32.6% 23.9% (2020) (2019) (2019) (2017) (2017)
Market cap: Tehran Stock Exchange 1,374.89 1,150.64 1,366.55 327.20 (Dec 224.85 (TSE) (USD bn) 2019)
PE ratio: TSE 9.61 13.33 22.56 8.60 8.41 Source: CEIC
8.3.1 IPOs
Iran’s Aseman Airlines ‘planning IPO’
Iran’s Aseman Airlines is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), according to its CEO Mehdi Qaderi, as cited by Press TV.
Aseman, a subsidiary of Iran’s Civil Servants Pension Fund, flies to more than 50 destinations and is Iran’s third largest carrier by size of fleet and staff. Qaderi reportedly said that the plan for a flotation has been coordinated with high levels of government, including people in the Iranian parliament.
Iran’s civil aviation authority lately said that the country’s airlines have been provided with more than Iranian rial (IRR) 20 trillion ($83mn at the free market rate) in loans to help them cope with losses suffered because of the coronavirus pandemic.
41 IRAN Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com