Export companies sold forex hawala worth $4.8 billion to the secondary foreign exchange market, known locally as Nima, in the calendar month to April 20.
Out of this only $1.3 billion was bought indicating that supply has outweighed demand, the Central Bank of Iran said in a press release.
Nima is Persian acronym for a trade platform affiliated to the CBI through which exporters sell their overseas proceeds and companies buy for importing goods, machinery, equipment and raw material. The rates in Nima are usually lower than forex rates at open market.
A US dollar at Nima was sold at 229.358 rials on average during the last calendar month – almost 15,000 rials lower than the rate in the free market.
The regulator said exporters’ currency offers at Nima has increased in recent days. Companies sold $264 million to Nima on Wednesday but only $103 million was purchased by importers.
Trade via Nima declined last year due to government restrictions on businesses to control the coronavirus, decline in foreign trade due to border closures after the virus struck and tough US sanctions.
Selling currency at Nima is one way for fulfilling currency earning repatriation for exporters. The Trade Promotion Organization of Iran also said forex repatriation has improved. It said from April 2018 to March 2021, exporters brought back €43.5 billion, which was almost 70% of their forex repatriation commitment.
Export income to be repatriated was €70.3 billion for goods taken out from April 2018 to Oct 2020. “Considering discounts, exporters were supposed to return €60.3 billion” the TPO said.
Apart from approaching Nima, exporters can also sell their foreign earnings to authorized exchange shops and banks. Recently, they have been allowed to repatriate through new methods that include using the overseas income to import for themselves or a third party.
The TPO says diversifying repatriation methods has encouraged exporters to meet their financial commitments in a more disciplined and timely manner. The government tightened rules on repatriating currency by exporters in the spring of 2019 after the United Sates imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil, banking and shipping industries.
