AGL 38.15 Decreased By ▼ -1.43 (-3.61%)
AIRLINK 125.07 Decreased By ▼ -6.15 (-4.69%)
BOP 6.85 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.59%)
CNERGY 4.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-5.52%)
DCL 7.91 Decreased By ▼ -0.53 (-6.28%)
DFML 37.34 Decreased By ▼ -4.13 (-9.96%)
DGKC 77.77 Decreased By ▼ -4.32 (-5.26%)
FCCL 30.58 Decreased By ▼ -2.52 (-7.61%)
FFBL 68.86 Decreased By ▼ -4.01 (-5.5%)
FFL 11.86 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-3.26%)
HUBC 104.50 Decreased By ▼ -6.24 (-5.63%)
HUMNL 13.49 Decreased By ▼ -1.02 (-7.03%)
KEL 4.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.54 (-10.4%)
KOSM 7.17 Decreased By ▼ -0.44 (-5.78%)
MLCF 36.44 Decreased By ▼ -2.46 (-6.32%)
NBP 65.92 Increased By ▲ 1.91 (2.98%)
OGDC 179.53 Decreased By ▼ -13.29 (-6.89%)
PAEL 24.43 Decreased By ▼ -1.25 (-4.87%)
PIBTL 7.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.19 (-2.59%)
PPL 143.70 Decreased By ▼ -10.37 (-6.73%)
PRL 24.32 Decreased By ▼ -1.51 (-5.85%)
PTC 16.40 Decreased By ▼ -1.41 (-7.92%)
SEARL 78.57 Decreased By ▼ -3.73 (-4.53%)
TELE 7.22 Decreased By ▼ -0.54 (-6.96%)
TOMCL 31.97 Decreased By ▼ -1.49 (-4.45%)
TPLP 8.13 Decreased By ▼ -0.36 (-4.24%)
TREET 16.13 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-2.95%)
TRG 54.66 Decreased By ▼ -2.74 (-4.77%)
UNITY 27.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
WTL 1.29 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-5.84%)
BR100 10,089 Decreased By -415.2 (-3.95%)
BR30 29,509 Decreased By -1717.6 (-5.5%)
KSE100 94,574 Decreased By -3505.6 (-3.57%)
KSE30 29,445 Decreased By -1113.9 (-3.65%)

Iran's Money and Credit Council has approved a move to cut bank lending rates by up to four percentage points, Iranian media said on Tuesday, despite concern it will further stoke inflation and hurt private banks.
The rate for state banks will be cut to 12 from 14 percent while private banks will see it fall to 13 from 17 percent, largely following a proposal by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in May, newspapers said. The president now needs to confirm the Council's decision before it takes effect.
Under the decision, the interest rate that state and private banks can charge borrowers would fall to levels well below Iran's inflation rate of around 17 percent, potentially exposing them to losses in real terms on their lending.
Ahmadinejad had demanded that both sets of interest rates be cut to 12 percent but his decision had to be approved by the Council, whose members include the central bank head and other senior officials in the oil-rich country.
The president came to power in 2005 pledging to share out Iran's oil wealth more fairly. But his policies have come under increased criticism and last week 57 Iranian economists said government policies hurt growth and pushed up inflation.
Ahmadinejad, whose government is facing a possible third round of United Nations sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear programme, has dismissed the criticism. In its ruling, the Council decided on a somewhat smaller cut for private banks than Ahmadinejad had wanted.
"The Council approved that interest rates in (state-owned) banks be 12 percent," Economy and Finance Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari was quoted as saying by the Poul newspaper. "It was suggested in the Council that interest rates in private banks be one percent more than in state-owned banks and be increased to 13 percent (compared to the proposal)," he said.

Copyright Reuters, 2007

Comments

Comments are closed.