Ruthless thieves are plundering the wealth of the oppressed Iranian nation and are trying to blind the eyes of truth-seekers to hide the realities. Economist Farshad Momeni has shed light on one of the crises caused by the thieves of the people’s assets, namely the “banking imbalance.”
On October 14, Jamaran website quoted him as saying, “Is it a coincidence that mafias and their mercenaries point to thousands of false and clichéd causes for inflation? The collapse of Iran’s economy, the significant damage to the country’s reputation, and the threat to its future are primarily due to financialization, especially the role of private banks. In more than two decades, no entity has contributed as much to the rise in currency, gold, and housing prices as private banks. Yet, when they give explanations, they rely on misleading and repeatedly failed arguments.”
We Don’t Even Have Banks
After forty years of rule by the religious fascism in Iran, which has destroyed the banking system, economists admit that we don’t even have banks. What exists is part of the chaotic, hybrid nature of Iran’s economy.
On September 11, Fararu news website quoted regime expert Vahid Shaqaqi as saying: “In Iran’s economy, there is essentially no such thing as a bank; rather, we have investment companies that provide limited monetary and banking services. This has been a grave mistake. The imbalance in some banks has become severely critical. Statistics show that a significant portion of the increase in the monetary base, liquidity, and inflation is due to the worsening imbalance in banks, and continuing this situation is extremely dangerous. Unfortunately, Iran’s economy is like a camel-leopard hybrid.”
Abdolnasser Hemmati, the current Minister of Economy, also acknowledges this issue: “Banking imbalance is one of the most significant economic problems in the country. Some private banks were not established correctly from the beginning, and others later fell into imbalance. This imbalance is one of the key outcomes of poor economic governance” (Source: Fararu news website).
Even MP Ara Shaverdian wrote on his Telegram channel: “Currently, we don’t have real banks; institutions called banks are actually investment companies that have been illegally given banking powers, such as accepting deposits and creating money, with the Central Bank’s responsibility.”
The Dissolution of Banks: A Solution to Imbalances
The situation has reached a point where dissolving banks seems to be the only solution to address the imbalances. The Central Bank’s deputy for supervision commented on the banking imbalance: “The imbalance in the banking system is below 7 quadrillion rials. A significant part of this imbalance is due to the performance of other economic sectors and the government imposing problems on the banks… The second solution is the dissolution and shutdown of banks. Last year, three institutions were dissolved in a way that their imbalance was not transferred to other banks” (Source: The state-run Etemad newspaper, October 14)
Staggering Loan Figures Paid to Bank Employees
Amid the imbalance crisis in banks under the clerical regime’s management, reports of massive loans given to employees connected to regime officials are shocking.
On August 24, Nour News website wrote, “A review of the financial statements of 11 active banks in the capital market shows that by the end of 2023, the total loans paid to employees of these banks exceeded 1.24 quadrillion rials. Meanwhile, in 2023, less than 660 million rials in loans were paid per Iranian citizen.”
The oppressed people of Iran are not only grappling with banking corruption, inflation, the flight of national wealth, and the scourge of warmongering under the mullahs’ regime, but they are also deprived of necessities. The paragraph below from the state-run Ham-Mihan newspaper on October 9 is an admission of a glimpse of this disaster:
“I heard a single mother complaining about the 25% increase in bread prices, and I realized the situation some people are in. She said, wasn’t bread supposed to stay the same price? So what was this price hike? I also heard someone else say that we used to be able to buy a watermelon, but now we can’t even afford the fruit of the poor.”