No Forex Subsidy for Drug Imports

The Central Bank of Iran has removed pharmaceuticals from the list of essential items that receive subsidized foreign currency for imports, the head of the Iranian Pharmaceutical Importers Association said.
 “Medicines should be imported at the unified US dollar exchange rate of 42,000 rials and euro’s exchange rate of 52,000 rials,” Nasser Riahi also told ILNA. “In a joint meeting between CBI officials and importers, the central bank put forth the idea of allocating 4,000 rials in subsidies [for each dollar] to medicine imports, provided prices remain unchanged for a year but the proposal was rejected by importers due to fluctuations in foreign currency rates.” Riahi said the Health Ministry has now promised to devise a new drug pricing policy.