Exporters Want CBI Flexibility in Revenue Repatriation

Head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mining and Agriculture has called on the Central Bank of Iran to postpone deadline(s) for repatriating export earnings by at least three months to help shield exporters against mounting risks posed by the coronavirus.
Gholam Hussein Shafei, in a letter to the CBI boss, set out  the dire conditions created by the rapidly spreading virus, especially restriction on exports from Iran, stressing that stimulus measures by the government and CBI can reduce the negative impact of the pandemic on the already struggling  businesses.
The central bank requires exporters of non-oil goods to sell at least half of their export currency in the secondary market at rates that are below the higher open market price. Petrochemical companies are obliged to bring back at least 60% of their earnings and sell it via the secondary foreign exchange market known as Nima (Persian acronym for integrated forex deals system.
This is while, most of the states neighboring the Islamic Republic, including Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Armenia, have closed their land borders with Iran amid growing concerns about the infectious disease that has spread to more than 110 countries.
Iran Customs Administration data confirms a sharp decline in exports in recent weeks. Iran exported 4.11 million tons of non-oil goods worth $1.28 billion from Feb. 18, when the first case of the new coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, was officially reported.  
This indicates a 20% decline in weight and a 30% decrease in value of Iran's non-oil exports compared to the same period last year.
The Health Ministry confirmed 9,000 corona cases on Wednesday with the death toll rising to 354. Health officials said 2,959 patients had recovered and went home since the  outbreak of the disease.
There are over 119,000 cases of coronavirus globally and 4,296 deaths linked to the virus as of early Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally.
There were over 4,800 cases and 270 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, with the vast majority of cases now being reported outside of China. Almost half of all new global cases were reported by Italy, Iran and Spain. Fatalities were up over 26% globally from a day earlier, with Italy and Iran reporting 168 and 54 deaths respectively.
Earlier the CBI agreed to postpone repayment of loans to mitigate the effect of the new coronavirus on businesses. As per the measure, borrowers have been given a grace period of up to three months starting from the end of the calendar month to make their monthly loan repayments.