The international sanctions, chronic inflation and depreciated currency are smothering Iran’s economy and now one of the country’s largest private banks has gone bankrupt.
Ayandeh Bank, which was set up in 2012, had 150 branches in Tehran alone and 120 more in other parts of the country. Recently, the private bank was grappling with around $5.2 billion in losses and $2.9 billion in debts.
Ayandeh Bank’s assets were absorbed by the state-owned Melli Bank. Iran’s Central Bank has assured depositors that their savings would be recovered.
“More than 90 per cent of Ayandeh Bank’s funds were allocated either to parties related to the bank or to projects managed by the bank itself,” Hamidreza Ghaniabadi, an official at the Central Bank of…