L. A. ANDREEV Post-graduate student of the ISAA of Lomonosov Moscow State University Keywords: Iran, finance, credit, microfinance In the last two decades, the practice of micro-crediting has gained wide popularity in the banking environment. The UN has declared 2005 the International Year of Micro-credit1. The first micro-loan of $27, issued by the Bank of Bangladesh in 1976, was the embodiment of the idea of Muhammad Yunus, a professor at the University of Chittagong2. The young doctor of economics, who returned to his homeland after studying in the United States, wanted to improve the situation of the country's poorest residents, whose suffering he watched daily. It turned out that the main problem was the tough position of local loan sharks, who in case of late payments on the loan could take away goods produced with borrowed funds from customers. As a result, people were left with neither the opportunity to earn nor the money. The only way out was a new loan, which effectively meant slavery. Having understood what to do, M. Yunus turned to the bank, which, after months of disputes, agreed to give money to the poor on the condition that Yunus would act as a guarantor. Over time, the loans were repaid, the professor's case was continued, and in 1983 the Grameen Bank was founded, which is still engaged in microcredit in many countries of the world. In 2006, Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.3 In addition to official credit institutions like Grameen Bank, informal microfinance organizations can often be found in various countries. These may include mutual aid funds, credit and savings clubs and unions, loan sharks, and mutual insurance companies4. MUTUAL AID CASH REGISTERS IN PERSIAN The experience of such institutions is quite widespread in the world, and it can hardly be called unique when considering any individual country. However, in Iran, among others, cash registers or interest-free lending funds, called san duk-e garz-ol-hasaneh, ... Read more