Based on deputy to “Roads and Urban Development” Minister, in an interview with ILNA, according to Iran’s budget bill for the 2017-18 fiscal year, the government is allowed to attract up to $55 billion in foreign finance, of which projects using $30 billion have already been specified.
Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan also quoted: “The foreign finances are to be used for the implementation of projects of ministries and other organizations in the country,” He noted that no limit has been set for the amount of finance a ministry or an entity can receive, as the allocated credits will be based on the projects approved by the government.
Countries that have shown interest in Iran’s investment potentials include South Korea, China, Japan, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Norway, Russia and Brazil. After the implementation of Iran’s nuclear accord with world powers, the nation has negotiated to attract $50 billion worth of foreign finance, which are expected to flow into the country soon.
Fakhrieh-Kashan noted that the $55 billion ceiling for foreign finances consists of $50 billion of direct foreign finance plus $5 billion in loans, either from another government or foreign financial institutions. “Of the foreign loans worth $5 billion, €1.2 billion ($1.44 billion) from Russian resources will be used to electrify the 495-km Garmsar-Inche Burun railroad,” he added, noting that a portion of these finances will be allocated to Iran’s Energy Ministry for the implementation of their projects while the destination of the rest of the credits is not determined yet.
To implement this issue, negotiations with Austrian banks resulted in signing a finance deal with the Austria’s “Oberbank” worth €1 billion by 14 Iranian banks Thursday in Vienna. The Austrian finance is set to be used for development of civil and production projects in Iran, Central Bank of Iran’s website reported.
Karafarin Bank, Saman Bank, Bank Refah, Bank Mellat, Tejarat Bank, Bank Melli Iran, Bank of Industry and Mine, Bank Sepah, Middle East Bank, Export Development Bank of Iran, EN Bank, Bank Keshavarzi, and Parsian Bank will act as the agent banks providing public and private sector with financial support.
The contract was signed during Iranian delegation’s visit to Austria (above photo) headed by Ahmad Araqchi, CBI’s deputy for foreign exchange affairs and Mohammad Khazaei, deputy minister of economy.
Oberbank is Austria’s seventh-biggest lender, with a balance sheet of roughly €20 billion ($24 billion).
On the other side, at the Iranian ambassador’s residence in Vienna attended by Ahmad Araqchi, CBI’s deputy for foreign exchange affairs and Mohammad Khazaei, deputy minister of economy, one of the oldest Danish banks, “Danske Bank“, signed a €500m finance contract with 10 Iranian banks on Thursday, becoming the second European lender to ink such an agreement with Iran.
Saman Bank, Bank Mellat, Tejarat Bank, Bank Melli Iran, Bank of Industry and Mine, Bank Sepah, Bank Pasargad Iran, EN Bank, Bank Keshavarzi, and Parsian Bank will act as the agent banks, providing civil projects in Iran with the Danish fund, Central Bank of Iran website reported.
“Danske Bank, founded in 1871 and headquartered in Copenhagen, is the largest bank in Denmark and a major retail bank in the northern European region with over five million retail customers. It was number 454 on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011.
