The Central Bank of Iran unveiled an electronic platform on Monday to “facilitate” supply of currency to retail buyers.
The platform is operated by Iran’s regulated market, officially known as Iran Currency Exchange, the CBI public relations website reported.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, the CBI Governor Ali Salehabadi said “the platform is designed to help facilitate forex supply to people with real needs”.
It enables anyone in the country to register their request for currency, submit relevant documents, select the exchange bureau and determine the delivery date.
“This is a process that makes people’s access to currency market easier. They will not need to queue in front of exchange shops,” Salehabadi said. The platform is expected to also help improve transparency in currency trade.
Emphasizing the “real needs” for currency, he was referring to the fact that buyers can only buy currency for pre-determined purposes set out by the CBI by providing the needed documents.
Official exchange shops affiliated to the CBI are allowed to sell forex for 25 purposes, including travel, education, pilgrimage, medical treatment and the likes.
Apart from these needs, exchange shops were allowed in the past to sell €2,000 or equivalent for “other purposes” to every Iranian each year. The CBI last November suspended currency sale for miscellaneous purposes.
The decision to impose limits on forex sales was in line with efforts to tame volatility in the currency market and control “artificial demand”, reports said.
Based on CBI regulations, those not eligible to buy currency from official exchange bureaus, do so via the unofficial market where rates are higher.
Each US dollar is presently worth 262,000 rials in the unofficial exchange market. The rate is almost 7% lower than the 245,000 rials at official exchange shops.
Forex Reserves
In his appraisal of Iran’s currency reserves, the CBI boss said the bank has sufficient cash reserves.
“Despite the high volume of currency supplied this year, we have the best reserve status.” He noted that $50 billion had been procured via different sources for importing goods.
In addition, the supply of currency at the regulated market has improved in the present fiscal year that ends on March 20. “Almost $1.6 billion was traded in the regulated market since the beginning of the fiscal year. That was fourfold compared to the same period last year,” he said.
The regulated forex market is a spot market dealing in wholesale currency. Trade is processed by authorized exchange shops and selected banks that operate as brokerages.
The market is seen as a government measure to restore some discipline to the chaotic currency market. It was set up to provide a transparent venue where currency is traded via an electronic platform.
