Baku, Azerbaijan, July 11
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
The value of Iran’s product exports amounted to approximately $11.5 billion during the first three months (March 21-June 21) of the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2019), Mohammad Reza Modudi, head of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, said at the 2nd National Conference on Exports, Insurance and Investment, Trend reports referring to IRIB.
According to him, there was no change in the value of the export of goods during the reported period compared to the same period last year.
Modudi added that products worth $10.2 billion were imported during this period. In his words, the imports decreased by 8.7 percent compared to the same period last year.
"There are 400 companies in Iran exporting goods worth $10 million, which is a low figure," he said.
He went on to say that Iran has to diversify its export products in order for the value of the country’s exports to reach $120 billion by 2025.
Modudi also said that nabat (rock candy) at value of $120 million was exported while the export of sugar was banned last Iranian year. Therefore, reforms should be carried out in foreign currency policies.
"A solution for preventing such cases is to ban the export of these products. However, $10-15 billion worth of products are imported illegally through Iran's borders and it is possible for a similar amount of products to be exported from the country," he said.
There are currently four foreign exchange rates in Iran. The official exchange rate is used for the import of some essential products. The SANA system is a system announced by the Central Bank of Iran to the currency exchange offices, which buy and sell foreign currencies. NIMA is a system intended for the sale of a certain percentage of the foreign currency gained from the sale non-essential goods and export. In the black market, the foreign currency's price is higher than the above-mentioned rates. This leads to businessmen and traders being interested in selling their currencies on the black market.