\n\tThe Thursday report by IRNA cited data by the Central Bank \nof Iran (CBI) as showing that the total foreign debt stood at $9.053 \nbillion on December 21, 2019, a decrease of three percent compared to \nMarch 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThat comes as debts had reached $9.339 billion in March last\n year but then decreased by seven percent, to $8.678 billion in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThe current actual foreign debts are comprised of $1.505 \nbillion in short-term debts and $7.548 billion in long-term ones, said \nthe CBI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tIran\u2019s ratio of foreign debt to gross domestic product, \nwhich is currently around $500 billion, is among the lowest in the \nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThe low level of debt comes as the country has seen its normal oil revenues significantly slashed as a result of US sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tIn a bid to offset the impact of the US sanctions, the \ngovernment has been pressing ahead with various programs to diversify \nthe economy away from oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tA draft budget for the next Iranian year, which begins on \nMarch 20, has significantly reduced the share of oil-related receipts by\n introducing new sources of earning hard currency, including a massive \nplan for the export of minerals and petrochemicals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThe CBI said in September 2019 that its foreign currency \nreserves had decreased by 1.5 percent compared to June 2019, to stand at\n nearly $40 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it said at the time that total foreign exchange reserves owned by the CBI and credit institutes, other than official banks in Iran, had risen by 13 percent to top nearly $82 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iran managed to decrease the size of its foreign debt by around $300 million in a nine-month period ending in December last year, a new report showed. The Thursday report by IRNA cited data by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) as showing that the total foreign debt stood at $9.053 billion on December 21, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,8],"tags":[28,1065],"yoast_head":"\n