Checks Cross $7.6b in 1 Month

EghtesadOnline: More than 7.2 million checks worth about 991 trillion rials ($7.65 billion) were drawn in Iran during the second month of the current fiscal year (started May 21), the Central Bank of Iran’s latest report announced.

News ID: ۷۴۷۷۱۰

30 June 2019

The figures indicate a 34% and 83.1% increase in the total number and value of checks issued, respectively, compared with a month earlier, CBI’s official website reported.

About 52.1% of the total checks changed hands in the provinces of Tehran, Isfahan and Khorasan Razavi, which collectively grabbed a majority of the checks with a respective individual share of 34.6%, 9.8% and 7.7%.

According to the report, about 2.5 million checks worth over 518 trillion rials ($4 billion) changed hands in Tehran during the period, Financial Tribune reported.

In terms of the value of checks, Tehran once again had a predominant share of 52.3% while Khorasan Razavi and Isfahan ranked second and third with a respective share of 6% and 5.7%.

Bounced Checks

During the month, banks returned a total of 656,000 million checks worth over 92 trillion rials ($710.4 million), which were 24.9% higher in number compared with the month before.

In addition, the figure indicated an 85.9% growth in the value of bounced checks against the corresponding period of the previous year.

Of the total bounced checks, 214,000 worth 45 trillion rials ($347.4 million) pertained to Tehran, accounting for almost half of all bounced checks. On the nationwide scale, about 9.1% and 9.3% of all checks bounced in terms of number and value respectively.

Accordingly, Kerman Province topped the list of provinces with the highest ratio of bounced checks' value to the total checks at 14.1%. This is while Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province recorded the lowest ratio (4.9%) of the value of bounced checks to the total value of checks transacted.

Citing a senior judicial official, Fars News Agency reported on Saturday that the number of bounced checks reduced from 17.4 million in 2017-18 to 13.4 million in the fiscal 2018-19 to register a 28% year-on-year decline, thanks to the implementation new check rules.

Addressing Friday prayers, the deputy judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, attributed the decline to the collective prohibitive measures adopted by the judiciary, the government and CBI.

The check law underwent changes, following reforms approved by the parliament in August 2018, which called for tightening rules for opening a bank account to receive a check-book, imposing credit restrictions on check-book holders and developing a public database on the status of checks.

Cleared Checks

CBI data show that about 6.5 million checks worth 899 trillion rials ($6.94 billion) were cleared by banks during the period under review, indicating a 35% and 86% hike in the number and value of checks, respectively, month-on-month.

The figure accounts for 90.9% of the total number and 90.7% of the total value of checks issued.

In the same month, 2.3 million checks worth 473 trillion rials ($3.65 billion) were cashed in Tehran Province, accounting for 91.4% of the total volume and 91.2% of the total value of the processed checks.