Iran's economy minister says the Bank Sepah restructuring plan has central bank approval and pharma debts will be settled in the 1406 budget

Seyed Ali Madanizadeh, Iran's minister of economic affairs and finance, said on the evening of Monday, 27 July 2026, on the sidelines of the Government and Private Sector Dialogue Council, that the restructuring plan for Bank Sepah has been drawn up, approved by the Central Bank of Iran and put before the central bank's High Council. He said implementation would begin as soon as the cabinet approves it, though the exact timing depends on the legislative process. He declined to state the size of the bank's balance sheet shortfall until the process is complete.

He also announced a working group made up of the economy ministry, the health ministry, the central bank and the Plan and Budget Organization to settle debts between the pharmaceutical industry and the insurers, with the necessary resources to be provided for in the 1406 budget bill. For contractors exporting technical and engineering services to Iraq, the central bank was tasked with lifting banking restrictions such as frozen accounts and chequebook bans.

Madanizadeh added that this year's budget law provides for about 1,030 trillion tomans of government financing through debt bond issuance. No bonds were issued in the first two months of the year and regular issuance began in Khordad; last year's figure was about 800 trillion tomans. He also said 20 trillion tomans from Note 18 resources has been placed with banks, which on a leveraged basis allows roughly 80 trillion tomans of lending to war damaged enterprises on condition that they preserve employment. About 25 percent of those resources has been used so far.