<p dir="LTR"><span>Financial Tribune- Iranian banks allocated 5,484 trillion rials ($146.2 billion) to various sectors during the fiscal year that ended on March 20, 2017, registering a growth of 1,310 trillion rials ($35 billion) or 31.4% compared to the previous year.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>According to the latest report published on the Central Bank of Iran's website, the services sector took the lion's share of all the offered loans at 2,179 trillion rials ($58.1 billion), accounting for 39.7% of all the credits extended to economic sectors.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>Industries and mining sector, which received 1,609 trillion rials ($43 billion), and the business sector, bagging 724 trillion rials ($19.3 billion), were the next major recipients of credits, accounting for 29.3% and 13.2% of the total loans, respectively.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>This is while about 500 trillion rials, accounting for only 9% of all the loans, ended up in the housing sector, which should come as no surprise given the recession afflicting the key sector.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>It is important to note that the growth in banks’ loan portfolios should not raise inflationary pressures since the demand for credit is particularly high.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>Thus, recapitalization of banks, improvement of their efficiency for providing working capital loans for productive activities, reduction of bad debt and redirecting firms to approach the capital market are recommended.</span></p>