World Bank says received no payments from Iran in six months
Iran has not paid back any of its loans to the World Bank
for more than six months, the bank said on Thursday, a further sign of the
strains on the sanctions-hit Iranian economy. Faced with a combination of poor
fiscal management and Western economic sanctions for its disputed nuclear
program, Iran has suffered from spiraling prices and high unemployment in the
last year. The World Bank said it took a hit of $81 million in the fiscal year
that ended on June 30 due to Iran's non-performing loans, a tiny percentage of
its multibillion-dollar lending portfolio. The United States and its allies
have imposed hard-hitting sanctions against Iran's oil and banking sectors to
choke off funding to its nuclear program. Western governments say Iran seeks to
develop the ability to make weapons, while Iran insists its nuclear program is
for peaceful purposes. Iran owed the bank $697 million on June 30, of which $79
million was overdue.
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