First Published 2009-07-29, Last Updated 2009-07-29 14:16:29
Iran Khodro hit hard by the global economic crisis
Iran's biggest car maker to be bailed out
Iran Khodro will get one billion dollar bailout in government-backed rescue package to escape bankruptcy.
TEHRAN - Iran Khodro, the Middle East's biggest car manufacturer, is to receive one billion dollars in a government-backed rescue package, a company official said on Wednesday.
Debts of several billion dollars were reportedly threatening to force the bankruptcy of the company, which has 60 percent of the Iranian car market and sends exports around the world.
"The Monetary and Credit Council finally agreed with the one-billion-dollar aid to Iran Khodro," Etemad newspaper said.
Jamshid Imani, deputy director of Iran Khodro Company (IKCO), said half of the aid will be available "within days."
"The rest will be paid after the sale of Iran Khodro's shares in Parsian Bank," he told the ISNA news agency. IKCO owns one-third of the bank's shares with an estimated value of about 2,000 billion rials (200 million dollars). |
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