Bank Sarmayeh: From Promises of Reform to the Shadow of Dissolution
Bank Sarmayeh has entered the year 1405 without showing any serious signs of emerging from its crisis. Instead, its financial statements and monthly balances indicate a continuation of a worrying situation, bringing the discussions of merging or even dissolving this bank closer to reality than ever before.
With the appointment of Mousa Eslami, it was expected that the new management could at least manage part of the chronic crisis of Bank Sarmayeh and halt its deteriorating trend. However, the statistics tell a different story. The bank’s negative balance, which was recorded at about 11,240 billion rials in Dey 1404, worsened to negative 11,642 billion rials in Bahman and further to negative 12,117 billion rials in Esfand. This trend indicates that not only has there been no improvement, but the bank’s financial gap has also deepened.
Although in Farvardin 1405 the negative balance decreased to about 2,327 billion rials, this change is still far from bringing the bank back to a stable and acceptable condition and cannot be considered a definitive sign of emerging from the crisis. Many experts believe that temporary reductions in numbers without structural reforms and changes in management models cannot guarantee the bank’s revival.
For years, Bank Sarmayeh has been grappling with management crises, corruption cases, accumulated losses, and shareholder distrust. During the management of Farajollah Ghadami, numerous promises were made to reform the situation, but in practice, not only were the bank’s problems not resolved, but financial indicators also signaled worsening conditions. Now, it seems the new management has yet to chart a different path for the bank.
The continued recording of negative balances in a bank where a significant portion of shares belongs to educators has doubled the concerns. This is because if the crisis reaches a point of final decision-making, the main cost of any potential merger or dissolution will once again fall on the shareholders and depositors.
In such circumstances, the main question is whether the current management has an operational and effective plan to save Bank Sarmayeh, or if we will continue to witness repeated promises and rhetoric in one of the country’s most crisis-stricken banks, a bank that is getting closer to the point of tough decisions every day.
