Central Bank of Iran: Bank Deposits at $195b

EghtesadOnline: Total deposits with banks and credit institutions reached 22,165 trillion rials ($195 billion) during the fourth month (June 22- July 22) of the current fiscal year indicating 26.9% annual growth.

News ID: ۷۴۸۹۰۵

10 November 2019

According to a report released by the Central Bank of Iran, total bank deposits rose 4.696 trillion rials, or 7.2%, compared to the end of the last fiscal year (March 2019) when deposits stood at 20,673.36 trillion rials ($182.14 billion).

The report covers deposits both in rial and foreign currency.

Majority of deposits were in banks in Tehran Province with  54 % of the total deposits, according to Financial Tribune.

More than 11,969.8 trillion rials ($105.46 billion) in deposits were held with banks in the sprawling metropolis that is home to almost ten million people.

This was followed by Isfahan Province where about 1,165.07 trillion rials ($10.26 billion) are parked in banks. Khorasan Razavi Province was third with aggregate deposits of 1,031.35 trillion rials ($9.08 billion) by July 22.

Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province was at the bottom end of the list with 59.5 trillion rials ($524.09 million).

Unpaid Loans

The CBI report said during the period under review, outstanding loans crossed 16,108.9 trillion rials ($141.9 billion), indicating a 21.7% growth compared to the same period last year when the total outstanding loans stood at 13,236.4 trillion rials ($116.62 billion).

Compared to the end of last year, outstanding loans increased by 6.8%.

As is always the case, Tehran topped the list with the highest outstanding loans at 10,445.2 trillion rials ($92.02 billion).

Isfahan Province was 586.7 trillion rials ($5.16 billion) in the red followed by Khorasan Razavi with 494.69 trillion rials ($4.35 billion).

Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province was at the bottom end of the list with 54.8 trillion rials ($483.18 million) worth of unpaid loans.

According to the CBI, one of the main reasons for Tehran's share in both deposits and outstanding loans is that the capital city is home to head offices of most businesses in the country. This gives rise to a whole lot of financial and banking operations, including demand for loans, credit and assorted financial assistance.

Loan-to-Deposit Ratio

During the period, loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) stood at 81 %, indicating 3.5% decline on a year-on-year basis and 0.3% fall compared to end of the last fiscal year.

The ratio for Tehran and Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad provinces was 96.3% 103.9%, respectively.

LDR is used to assess a bank's liquidity by comparing the bank's total loans to total deposits for a specific period and is expressed as a percentage.

If the ratio is too high, the bank may not have enough liquidity to cover unforeseen funding requirements.

Conversely, if the ratio is too low, the bank may not be earning as much as it should be.