Financial Tribune - T he cost of money has declined up to 1.5% following a government decision to scrap the overnight interest rate policy on deposits in January, head of the Association of Private Banks and Credit Institutions said.

Kourosh Parvizian, also chief of Parsian Bank, said lenders are trying to further reduce the cost.

He spoke of a proposed package by lenders to the CBI that helps lenders cut the costs.

�The Central Bank of Iran is mulling a plan to reduce legal reserves of lenders,� Fars News Agency quoted him as saying.

The legal deposit ratio currently varies from 10% to 12% for most banks.