The Governor of Central Bank of Iran Ali Salehabadi says the CBI has enough foreign currency to pay for imports.
“Almost $26 billion was given for imports from the beginning of current fiscal year [March 20] up until last month [August 22],” he was quoted as saying by the CBI website.
Forex was made available mainly in the form of hawala sourced largely from proceeds brought into the country by exporters, Salehabadi said.
“This amount was $7 billion higher compared to the same time last year,” he said, adding that supply is often above demand.
Over the past three years, exporters have sold their overseas income to a CBI-affiliated trade platform known as Nima. In the Nima system, importers declare their currency needs, exporters register their currency proceeds and banks and authorized moneychangers act as dealers.
Non-oil exporters are obliged to bring back a segment of their earnings in foreign exchange hawala and sell it via Nima. They may sell currency to authorized exchange shops.
Surge in forex repatriation by export firms is partly related to the rise in currency rates in the Nima system, which apparently encourages exporters to offer more of their currency income.
Since late May, exporters have been given the option to sell a segment of their hard currency at so-called ‘negotiated rates”, which are higher than Nima.
Salehabadi said the negotiated currency trade has increased noticeably in the recent weeks. The regulated market, in which wholesale currency is exchanged in banknotes between banks and authorized exchange bureaus, has also seen growth, he said.
Accordingly, $1 billion was traded in the regulated market since the beginning of fiscal 2022-23.
