Majlis Commission Votes to Raise Marriage Loan

EghtesadOnline: The Majlis Joint Commission has approved an increase in marriage loans given to newlyweds, the Minister for Sports and Youth Masoud Soltanifar said.

News ID: ۷۸۵۲۹۱

20 January 2020

The commission, which is studying the budget bill for fiscal March 2020-21, voted to increase the loans given to each partner by 500 million rials ($3,846) in the forthcoming year, Financial Tribune reported.

This amount is 200 million rials higher than the figure proposed by the government. The marriage loan given to each partner is currently 300 million rials.

As per current rules, couples can apply for marriage loans up to two years after the pronouncement of their marriage contract.

The interest-free loans have a 5-year maturity and lenders are told to prioritize lending in this category compared to other loan applicants.

Overtime the value of marriage loans has increased in proportion to inflation rates. The 30-million-rial loan four years ago reached 150 million rials in the last fiscal year (March 2018-19).

The government and relevant organizations have reiterated their concern over the declining marriage rates and are encouraging the youth to marry by offering incentives.

Newlyweds received 549,760 loans worth 170 trillion rials in the first seven months of current fiscal year, according to Central Bank of Iran.

During a nine-month period since the beginning of current fiscal year (March 2019), the state-owned Bank Melli Iran granted more than 188,000 marriage loans worth 59.3 trillion rials ($453 million) to the new couples.

BMI, which is the biggest domestic lender, had given 41.4 trillion rials ($315 million) to couples via 265,000 loans during the last fiscal year.

When debating the budget bill for the current fiscal year, the Majlis last February voted to increase the value of marriage loans to 300 million rials ($2,300) per partner. This amount was double the value proposed by the government in its draft budget.