The Central Bank of Iran has opened bank accounts in major European and Asian countries and secured 542 such openings so far, according to the deputy governor of CBI for foreign exchange affairs.
"In order to develop and expand correspondent relations with other countries, CBI has made a lot of efforts. At present, bank accounts have been opened in Germany, Austria and Italy," Gholamali Kamyab was also quoted as saying by Banker.ir during a meeting with S.M. Muneer, chief executive of Trade Authority of Pakistan.
"According to the latest statistics, 542 accounts have been opened with international banks."
Last week, CBI opened two new accounts in euro and yuan with the Export-Import Bank of China (Chexim) to expedite bank transactions between Iran and China.
The agreement was reached on the sidelines of the 16th meeting of the Iran-China Economic Commission in Beijing with the goal of creating conditions based on which the financing of joint economic schemes and expansion of bilateral banking cooperation would be made possible.
Referring to a previous meeting with Ashraf Wathra, the governor of State Bank of Pakistan, and the signing of four agreements between the two countries, Kamyab said the Pakistani official expressed his satisfaction with the increase in bilateral cooperation.
"Iran encourages this cooperation too and strives to form a joint commission to facilitate the implementation of bilateral agreements," he said.
Also speaking at the meeting, CBI's vice governor referred to the history of positive relations between Iran and Pakistan and said a good window of opportunity has opened with the easing of sanctions that could help expand business links through exchange of experiences between CBI and its Pakistani counterpart.
"In the current climate and after sanctions began to ease, Iran's economy underwent many changes and several trade hurdles were cleared," added Akbar Komijani.
"At present, Iran established banking relations with many Asian countries, including Japan, India, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia, and we hope to extend these relations with more Asian countries such as Pakistan."
Iran-Pak Cooperation
Emphasizing stable economic conditions within Iran, Komijani explained that when President Hassan Rouhani's government took office, point-to-point inflation stood at a steep 45% that was brought down to 9.2% after CBI implemented the right policies.
He also pointed to fluctuations experienced by foreign exchange rates in the early days of the current government, but these have stabilized.
"Fortunately, the Iranian rial managed to regain its strength against other currencies and achieved a relative stability against the greenback," he said.
"So the CBI is looking to unify the forex rates by bringing the official and market rates closer because unified rates will eventually lead to a stronger rial."
Komijani emphasized the potential of expanding bilateral trade relations, saying after Iran's accord with the P5+1 countries–dubbed the JCPOA–the country's business deals with other countries have been on the increase, so "the establishment of expert committees can help eliminate barriers and ease banking and trade deals".
"Other agencies and institutions active in business and commerce such as Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture can prove helpful in this regard," he added.
The Pakistani official said expansion of banking ties between Iran and Pakistan is necessary for increasing trade deals, saying Iran has high potential for bolstering cooperation.
"We hope that the establishment of correspondent relations and the opening of banking accounts can lead to better business deals with Iran," said S.M. Muneer.
