Economy Ministry to set up funds to stabilize currency, boost investment
IME unveils six commodity deposit certificates to lure investors
Iran’s Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said on Monday that the ministry plans to launch new currency-based funds and bonds aimed at attracting public liquidity and stabilizing the foreign exchange market.
“These instruments will soon be introduced and can both attract people’s liquidity and provide the capital needed to finance large enterprises’ working capital,” Madanizadeh said at the third conference honoring top figures of the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME), as reported by Tasnim news agency.
“Launching such funds will also help control the forex market and prevent further increases in exchange rates,” he added.
At the ceremony aimed at developing the financial market of the Iran Mercantile Exchange and broadening investment instruments, trading officially began for six commodity deposit certificates covering copper cathodes, bitumen, iron ore pellets, rebar, zinc ingots, and the Kerman Khodro T9 pickup truck.
The move is intended to diversify investment tools and attract wider participation from investors.
According to IME data, by noon Monday more than 792,000 certificates — worth several hundred billion tomans — had been traded, signaling strong investor interest in the new financial tools.
Madanizadeh stressed that removing barriers to productivity is essential for Iran’s economic growth.
He cited “price controls” as the first major obstacle, saying they have “trapped the economy and prevented markets from growing naturally.”
The second major challenge, he said, is Iran’s “bank-centered financing system,” which has limited the role of capital markets in funding production and enterprise development.
“In developed countries, large companies raise funds through capital markets so that bank resources can be directed toward small and medium-sized enterprises,” he said.
“One of the main policies of the ministry is to guide large enterprises toward the capital market, making the country’s financial structure more balanced and efficient.”
Madanizadeh also emphasized that “making the economy predictable” is the top priority of the government’s economic team. “Predictability enables better risk management and encourages people to save and channel their small investments into the capital market,” he said.
He announced the launch of a major “Rouyesh Plan” (Growth Plan), one of six flagship projects of the Economy Ministry, designed to mobilize small-scale public savings to finance large industrial enterprises.
“The instruments unveiled today by the Securities and Exchange Organization and the Iran Mercantile Exchange mark the beginning of this program and a step toward fostering productive investment in the country,” he said.