The loans will be granted to residents of rural and nomadic border regions with an interest rate of 4% and to those living in rural and nomadic non-border regions with an interest rate of 6%. Razavi put the payback period of loans at up to three years and the moratorium period at six months, IRNA reported. “These banking facilities are expected to help create close to 320,000 sustainable jobs in Iranian villages,” he said. The findings of the recent National Population and Housing Census conducted last year show that out of a total 79,926,270 Iranians or 24,196,035 households, 59,146,847 people or 18,125,488 households live in urban and 20,730,625 people or 6,070,547 households live in rural areas. The urban population shows an increase of 5,500,186 and the rural population has decreased by 772,383 compared with the previous round of national census conducted six years ago, Financial Tribune reported.