TEHRAN – Many foreign governments and purchasers are in debt to the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI), including Djibouti that its parliament has been financed and constructed by Iranians, the EGFI chairwoman has said.
In an interview with Tasnim published on Tuesday, Afrooz Bahrami said foreign customers and governments make up for around 70 percent of the debtors that owe money to the fund.
Considering the political consequences, the export fund is resorting to diplomacy and negotiations with the foreign debtors to force them to settle their debts, she added.
The fund has received a considerable amount of outstanding debts from Sri Lanka, Sudan, Cuba and Zimbabwe in recent years, Bahrami added, however, she said, certain states like Djibouti, whose parliament has been constructed by an Iranian contractor with Iranian finances, have not still paid off their debts.
The money that foreign governments, state banks and companies, as well as Iranian exporters owe to the fund amounts to 10 trillion rials, she explained.
Founded in 1973, EGFI is known as the first export credit agency (ECA) in the Middle East and North Africa, according to its official website.
EGFI is a state-owned company affiliated with the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade.
The fund aims to support, develop and promote Iran’s non-oil exports by supplying exporters with the necessary credits to cover the major political and commercial risks they may face.
SP/PA
