Iran’s Foreign Debt Reaches $8.6 Billion
Statistics released by the Central Bank show that Iran’s foreign debt reached 8 billion and 655 million dollars at the end of the first quarter of 1399 (2020).
According to Mehr News Agency, these latest figures indicate that the country’s current account balance in the external sector during the first quarter of 1399 reached negative 622 million dollars.
On this basis, the trade balance or merchandise account turned negative by 212 million dollars; such that the value of goods exports reached 8 billion and 938 million dollars and imports reached 9 billion and 150 million dollars.
The International Monetary Fund has predicted Iran’s government foreign debt for the current fiscal year to be 11.6 billion dollars.
Last year, this figure was approximately 10 billion dollars in the International Monetary Fund’s report, which coincidentally was also the same figure mentioned in Iran’s Central Bank statistics.
Concurrently with the decline in economic growth and the escalation of Iran’s government debts, the Islamic Republic requested a five billion dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund to combat coronavirus.
The International Monetary Fund states that accessible foreign exchange reserves for the Islamic Republic of Iran in the current fiscal year will be less than 9 billion dollars, whereas this figure was approximately 122 billion dollars in 2018.
Source: Radio Farda
