The Governor of Central Bank of Iran Ali Salehabadi says launching the rial-rubble exchange platform at the regulated forex market should help boost Russo-Iran trade.
At a ceremony on Tuesday, the CBI unveiled a trading ticker for the rial-ruble pair in the regulated market, the CBI public relations website said.
The regulated market is a spot market dealing in wholesale currency banknotes. Trade is handled by authorized exchange shops and agent banks are brokers. The CBI as the regulator oversees the trade.
Salehabadi described the development as a significant step in removing the US dollar in foreign trade, which he said has effectively emerged as “a political tool and an agent of hegemony”.
In his view “This is a significant move in line with efforts to use the national currency for trade and implement bilateral monetary accords”.
Launching ruble-rial trade platform is indeed the realization of past agreements signed between the two countries, he noted. The unveiling ceremony coincided with visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tehran earlier in the day.
Local media outlets said that 2 million rubles were traded on Tuesday at 5,390 rials to the Russian currency.
“The plan is to increase the offer of the ruble in the currency market in the near future and potential suppliers could help in expanding the market,” the CBI boss said.
The initiative is expected to facilitate, among other things, currency transfer for Iranian students in Russia for tuition and other expenses.
Russia and Iran have long pushed for de-dollarization in light of the near permanent US policy to use the greenback as a tool to impose its will via economic sanctions whenever it desires.
Citing government officials, Russian media outlets on Monday reiterated the need to eliminate use of the dollar in Russo-Iran trade.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday said Moscow and Tehran are working to gradually end the use of the US currency and improve bilateral trade.
Lira & Dinar to Join
Amir Hamouni, managing director of Iran Currency Exchange, which oversees the regulated forex market, spoke at the ceremony about plans to add more currencies to the market.
“We have plans to launch trade in the currencies of other countries with whom we have monetary agreements,” he was quoted as saying by IRIB news website.
The Iraqi dinar and Turkish lira are the other currencies that will be traded in the regulated market in the near future, he said without providing details.
When the regulated market was created in 2020, the euro and US dollar were the only currencies traded in the official currency market under CBI oversight.
The market was launched as one government measure to restore discipline in the chaotic currency market. It was created to promote an open and transparent system where currency is traded electronically.
Major stakeholders in the market are the Association of Private Banks and Credit Institutions, Association of Bureaux de Change Operators, public banks, Iran Fara Bourse (the junior market for securities and other financial instruments).
Curbing the controversial role of the army of unofficial currency dealers in gouging rates and limiting the role of speculators are seen as the pivotal goals of the market.
