The governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Mohammad Reza Farzin, said the bank has gained access to a big part of its blocked assets in some foreign countries and is using it to control currency rates.
"Stability in the markets is CBI’s top priority…We held constructive negotiations with our trading partners in recent weeks, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, China and Iraq.
A big part of our frozen assets became accessible as the result of the talks," Farzin told state TV late on Sunday.
"On Sunday we supplied the Nima market with $300 million from the $10 billion of our assets in Trade Bank of Iraq," he said, "We will continue to offer forex via Nima for imports."
Nima is an online platform affiliated to the CBI where exporters sell their overseas currency and companies buy for importing goods, machinery, equipment and raw material.
The senior banker added that foreign currency held in China were not attractive for importers in the Nima platform. "Allocation of resources from China [blocked due to the US sanctions] used to take almost 21 days…We have reduced that period now to 48 hours and these resources are also being purchased via Nima."
He elaborated on his recent visit to the UAE and said that dirham offers will increase in the Nima framework. "Talks are underway with other countries and we will offer our resources in other countries via Nima.”
A big part of demand for forex is met via Nima and our ultimate goal is to stabilize rates in this system at or near USD1=285,000 rials, he added.
"So far the system is supplying importers of essential goods, machinery and raw material."
The newly-appointed CBI chief held talks with some of his counterparts in the region in recent weeks.
He met Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the deputy PM and minister of the presidential court in Abu Dhabi last week. Later he called on the Qatar Central Bank chief Sheikh Bandar Bin Mohammed Bin Saoud Al-Thani in Doha.
Forex Rates at Record Highs
Elaborating on measures to control forex rates that are historic highs, he blamed unofficial social media channels for setting what he termed misleading and fake rates and disturbing the market.
"Market reality is different from what is portrayed in the social media…we have access to our resources in other countries and the market has no issue regarding supply," he said, adding that the CBI will increase its intervention in the currency market using new mechanisms.
The CBI is reportedly planning to launch a new market for gold and currency to address demand from individuals, investors and businesses.
On Monday the CBI raised the celling for currency that can be bought by the people from €2,000 to €5,000 or equivalent in other currencies.
Per law, every Iranian could buy a fixed amount of currency every year at slightly lower rates compared to the unofficial market by presenting their ID card.
The policy tempted buyers to line up for cheaper currency and sell it in the open market at higher prices.
Currency rates have scaled to historic highs in Iran over the past several weeks. The US dollar continued to climb on Sunday, gaining 3.27% to reach 436,370 rials in the open market but declined by 1.02% on Monday and was traded at 432,000 rials.
Melli Exchange and other bank-affiliated moneychangers priced the dollar at 396,940 rials, up 0.18%.
The euro jumped 3.27% on Sunday to buy 473,980 rials. It was down 0.89% on Monday at 469,840. The UAE dirham lost 1.94% on Monday and was traded at 124,000 rials.
