Tehran, Iran, Oct.24
Trend:
Referring to the foreign currency regulations in Iran, and the problems of the local exporters, Mohammad Lahooti, the chairman of Iran Export Confederation told Trend that the government`s narrative about the low percentage of use of the free market currency has no impact on the country's economic reality and it`s ignoring the elephant in the room.
“The government says that the exporters do not bring their currency into the country which is totally false. Real exporter needs working capital and its finances are clear and transparent. This issue can be monitored. The government can investigate an annual activities of the real exporters, but the government prefers to monitor the market through the NIMA system,” he said.
Lahooti said that the monitoring can done through providing verifiable documents from the exporter’s side.
On April 10, Iranian authorities announced a policy of unification of exchange rates - a move that has generated confusion, especially among those economic players who relied on the country’s free currency market.
The Central Bank has launched the integrated system for monitoring foreign exchange deals, known as NIMA. This is a system which monitors the activities of four groups of actors who shape the currency market: merchandise and service importers who purchase foreign currency, exporters of goods and services who earn foreign currency, banks and brokerages who act as intermediaries, and the policymakers who seek to manage supply and demand.
“We have to have two currency rates at most, not five, like it currently is in the market, said Lahooti.
Regarding the currency deposits, he said that the interest for currency deposits in the banks is considered to be favorable, but for exporters who are constantly in need of working capital they are not very useful as these people would not keep their capitals for one or two months.