BMI leading supporter of SMEs, startups: CEO

Bank Melli Iran (BMI), Iran’s largest lender, offered support to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups, said the bank’s top official.

CEO Mohammadreza Hosseinzadeh said that the bank had provided tens of billions of rials in funds to industry owners, SMEs, services and commercial units in the past Iranian calendar year, which ended in March, Press TV reported.

Hosseinzadeh said startups and the new technology-based firms had also benefitted from the support offered by Bank Melli Iran.

The official would not elaborate on exact figures and the interest rate of the loans given to the Iranian SMEs and startups.

However, he said that it was a policy of Bank Melli Iran to support manufacturing and production activities to help government reduce unemployment and inflation at a time when the country is struggling with the economic impacts of sanctions imposed by the United States.

“I believe that if the sanctions are to be circumvented, that could only be accomplished by an active private sector,” said Hosseinzadeh. “Our duty is to… empower the private sector through offering them all-out support.”

The BMI is the first national and commercial retail bank of Iran which is currently viewed as the largest bank in the Islamic world and in the Middle East. Estimates in 2016 showed the bank earned over $3 billion in income, the largest recorded for an Iranian company that year.

The bank is a major component of Iranian government’s development plans as it holds huge resources that could be used for financing construction projects across the country.

Bank Melli Iran has suffered from bans imposed by the US in its previous round of sanctions, which ended in 2015 when Iran and world powers reached a major nuclear agreement.

source: Iran Daily