Azerbaijan, Baku, Jun.2 /Trend R.Zamanov/
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has paid over 603.7 million dollars to import medicines, raw materials, and medical equipments from the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year, which began March 21.
Based on the latest reports released by the CBI, medicine imports accounted for 310.7 million dollars of the mentioned amount, the ILNA News Agency reported.
Gholamreza Qasemi, an official with the Central Bank of Iran, said on May 12 that Iran plans to allocate more forex to the medicine imports.
Iran will increase the allocation by 25 per cent more than the previously agreed amount, the IRNA News Agency quoted Gholamreza Qasemi as saying.
Iranian Customs Administration deputy director Mohammad-Reza Naderi said in May that Iran has set up special customs for importing staple foods and medicine.
The decision has been taken to speed up the release of staple foods, perishable foods, and medicine, he added, IRNA reported.
Iran's Health Ministry official Hossein Ayati also said in April that some 97 percent of Iran's required medicine is currently produced domestically.
About 50 percent of necessary raw material for producing the medicine is imported, he added.
Last year, some $1.7 billion was allocated to import medicine which is not produced inside the country, the official said.
In November 2012, the health ministry of Iran called the Central Bank to earmark $2 billion for importing medicine to cope with the domestic shortage as a result of international sanctions.