Iranian banks refuse to give government-mandated mortgages and loans to people, saying they don’t have the needed funds to comply with regulations.

According to a report by Aftab news on Friday, loans to help people pay their mortgages and rents were ratified by the government and the ministry of roads and urban development but the Central Bank of Iran has sided with the banks that say they don’t have the necessary funds.

Some applicants say when they tell the banks that the ministry has approved the $2,800 loans, the banks reply that the ministry may have decided, but no one has provided funding for such loans.

Under heavy pressure to help citizens impoverished by current economic crisis, the government has made promises to help low-income citizens.

The government has also increased the amount of the “marriage loans” to increase the population – a favorite goal for the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The banks are told to offer $4,000 loans, but according to reports about 35 percent of applicants didn’t manage to receive any money.

The government has also proposed loans for childbearing in next year’s budget, with the amount increasing with each additional child.

According to Iran’s head of the Center for Strategic Research on Population, Iran has now the lowest birth rate in the Middle East after experiencing the fastest decline in births during the past three decades.