The number of marriage loan payments in the first half of this year and compared to the same period last year shows a growth of about 40 percent, IRNA quoted Mehdi Mottaqifar as saying on Sunday.

During the aforementioned period, the total number of people who registered for marriage loans was 977,071 people, of which 486,399 people have been paid marriage loans, he stated.

He went on to say that some 1,731,041 people have registered to receive childbearing loans, of which only 383,377 loans have been granted.

In the specialized field of marriage and family, there are 430 counseling centers in the country. In addition, using the capacity of expert counselors, we also set up marriage and family counseling offices in cities with a high rate of divorce, he explained.

Marriage three times divorce

During the first three months of the current [Iranian calendar] year which began on March 21, some 142,298 marriages and 44,159 divorces were registered across the country.

Of the total number of marriages registered in the first three months of this year, the most are related to the provinces of Tehran with 16,225 cases, Khorasan Razavi with 12,401 cases, and Khuzestan with 10,939 cases.

Challenges caused by divorce and marriage rate

Official statistics of the country and the forecast of demographic experts indicate that if the trend of decreasing fertility rate, increasing single-child families, declining marriage rate, and increasing divorce rate continues for the next 30 years, old age will prevail in the country and one in three people will be over 60-years-old, which will be the beginning of a crisis.

“Several socioeconomic factors, including urbanization, education, financial issues, first marriage age, increasing divorce rate, as well as increased access to family planning services along with increased time gap between the firstborn and marriage, lead to decreased fertility rate.

But the problem in Iran is the pace of decline, which is very high. So, we have to look for the reason that increased the pace,” she explained.

The Majlis (Iranian Parliament) approved on March 16 to implement a population growth and family support plan for 7 years to change the declining trend of childbearing.

The plan stipulates health insurance for infertile couples, providing services and facilities to working women, providing health and nutrition support packages to mothers and children, educational opportunities for student mothers, providing livelihood support to families, and ongoing medical services to pregnant women.

As the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has emphasized that the national development plans should focus on population growth, and on the other hand, the Expediency Council seeks a one-year extension of the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021), it was decided to implement the plan for 7 years.

The downward trend of population growth gradually decreases and reaches zero, then becomes negative. Negative population growth causes the population to disappear in the long run.

It is estimated that population growth will reach zero in 2040 and then becomes negative, so the biggest concern is that Iran’s population will age in the coming years, fertility will decline, and the population of youth will decrease.

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“It would be best if we could reach a deal before the summer break,” Merkel said, calling for compromise from member states to enable the deal to be ratified by the end of the year.

“We must act quickly and decisively,” she said, AFP reported.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen proposed the huge fund to help the EU out of its deepest-ever recession, but the plan was immediately met with fierce opposition from fiscally conservative member states including Austria and the Netherlands.

The proposed package consists of 500 billion euros in grants and 250 billion euros in loans but requires unanimous EU approval.

“The starting position is far from easy but I hope that all member states will act in a spirit of compromise in the face of this unprecedented situation,” Merkel said.

“Cohesion and solidarity have never been more important than today. The crisis can only be overcome if we act for and with each other,” she said.

The European Council is due to hold a video summit on June 19 on the controversial stimulus package, the EU’s largest to date.

However, a decision is not expected until the leaders have met in person, said Merkel, whose country assumes the EU presidency in July.

The German chancellor had in late May stunned observers by proposing along with French President Emmanuel Macron the plan for 500 billion euros in grants to help the hardest-hit EU members to get their economies back on track.

That proposal, now making up the bulk of von der Leyen’s package, shattered a long-standing German taboo as it included taking on shared debt, a dramatic U-turn after years of obstinate German opposition to joint borrowing.

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“It’s time to act,” CBI Chief Abdolnaser Hemmati told IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in an article published on Sunday, reminding the IMF that Iran, the US, and Europe have all lost many people due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Deploring the US’ interference in the administration of the IMF, Hemmati proposed that the IMF can pay Iran the loan directly via the INSTEX –a financial mechanism that the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal have established for trade with Iran- or via the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), so that the loan could be used for purchases from pharmaceutical and food companies.

“These channels have been specially established to help buy foodstuff and medicine. These channels have appropriate security mechanisms that would allay all concerns,” Hemmati added.

Last week, the top Iranian banker had emphasized that the IMF loan is totally unconditional and must be given immediately.

The only guarantee that needs to be given relates to the period of repayment, Hemmati said, stressing that the loan is Iran’s natural right, as the country has kept reserve assets in the IMF and has not received any loan over the past 60 years.

Earlier this month, President Hassan Rouhani said it would be unacceptable for the International Monetary Fund to unfairly refuse Iran’s application for the loan that it needs for the fight against the coronavirus.

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