Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.29
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Some $2 billion of foreign currency is needed for Iran's car manufacturers to meet the country's production target which set for current Iranian calendar year(started on March 21), a member of the country's Automotive Part Makers Association said.
Mohammadreza Najafimanesh said the country's car output is projected to hit 1.3 million in the current Iranian calendar year, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on April 29.
Commenting on the administration's new decision of allocating cheap-rated foreign currency for carmakers Najafimanesh said that the effects of the decision will show itself by the second half of the current Iranian year.
On April 24, the country's central bank allowed the auto industry companies to purchase foreign currency by an official rate of 25,500 rials per each USD.
Iranian carmakers, while manufacturing the cars inside Iran, still need to import certain raw materials from other countries, which, in most cases, accept only USD.
Previously, the carmakers in Iran had to purchase the foreign currency based on the free market rate which is significantly higher than official rate.
Iran produced 989,110 cars in 2012, which made the country Asia's eighth largest car manufacturer, and world's 18th.
Iran's automobile output faced a 40 percent decrease in 2012.
Increasing prices of raw materials and foreign currencies are the main problems that the car manufacturers are facing.
Iran produced 502,273 cars in first three quarters of the past Iranian calendar year, the ISNA News Agency reported on January 4.
Iran exported 10,744 sedans during the last Iranian calendar year, with some 4,231 of that amount only exported in the latest Iranian month.
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