Data released by the Central Bank of Iran on Wednesday show that the regulator has enjoyed a healthy boost to its foreign assets in the past 12 months.

According to the monetary and banking indicators pertaining to the ninth month of the current fiscal year to Dec. 21, the central bank had 3.70 quadrillion rials ($77.91 billion) in foreign assets by the end of Q3, which indicate a 10.4% increase year-on-year.

The number is also indicative of a 9.1% rise compared to the volume of liquidity registered at the end of the previous fiscal year on March 20, 2017.

By the end of the ninth month of this year, the overall banking system held 6.60 quadrillion rials ($139.13 billion) in foreign assets, registering a respective hike of 17.7% compared with the same month of last year.

The total volume of liquidity stood at 14.45 quadrillion rials ($304.21 billion) by the end of the third quarter of the current year to signal a 22% jump when compared with the same month of last year.

The total volume of banknotes and coins was equal to 535.6 trillion rials ($11.27 billion) by the end of Q3, showing an 8% annual rise while 348.6 trillion rials ($7.33 billion) were in the hands of the people. From the rest, 112.2 trillion rials ($2.36 billion) were held by banks and 74.8 trillion rials ($1.57 billion) remained with CBI.

The total amount of deposits made by banks and credit institutions with the central regulator stood at 1.53 quadrillion rials ($32.27 billion) by Dec. 21, indicating a 20.7% increase when compared with the ninth month of last year.

A majority were in the form of legal reserve requirements at 1.46 quadrillion rials ($30.84 billion) and the rest, amounting to 68.2 trillion rials ($1.43 billion), were sight deposits.

The government sector, including the government and state-owned companies, had 353.6 trillion rials ($7.44 billion) of deposits with the CBI by the end of Q3, which shows an annual decline of 6.6%.

According to CBI, the government sector owed 2.55 quadrillion rials ($53.70 billion) to the banking system by the end of the third quarter, registering a 21.8% increase compared with the same month of last year.

The non-government sector, however, held 10.16 quadrillion rials ($213.91 billion) in liabilities to the banking system to indicate a 17% rise when compared with the same month of last year.

Source:

2018, CBI Foreign Assets Up, Saturday, February 10, p.1,<https://financialtribune.com>