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Central Bank director: No need for Iran to import gold for next 15 years

Iran Materials 6 June 2013 14:46 (UTC +04:00)
Iran doesn't need to import any gold for the next 15 years, the managing director of country's Central Bank, Mahmoud Bahmani said.
Central Bank director: No need for Iran to import gold for next 15 years

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 6 /Trend S.Isayev, D. Khatinoglu/

Iran doesn't need to import any gold for the next 15 years, the managing director of country's Central Bank, Mahmoud Bahmani said, Fars news agency reported.

Bahmani noted that Iran's gold reserves are sufficient for the next 15 years, as far as the domestic needs go.

Iran withdrew 250 tons of its gold reserves from Suisse Credit Bank worth five billion Swiss francs, and transferred them to Tehran in 2008. Suisse Bern-based daily Der Bund reported that apparently Iran has withdrawn 700 tons of its gold reserves, worth sixteen billion Swiss franks, from various Western monetary funds and transferred them to other unknown destinations.

Iran keeps its gold reserves in country's Central Bank under strict confidenciality. Iran's total gold reserves in 18 gold mines around the country are estimated to stand at 340 tons, which is slightly more than Iranians annually need (300 tons).

On the other hand, the annual capacity of gold production in Iran is 2,5 tons. The production is active on 12 mines out of 18.

Geological Survey of Iran deputy director Behrouz Borna said in May 2013 that Iran's annual gold production is projected to hit 10 tons this year.

Mahmoud Bahmani also spoke of liquidity in the country. He noted that the liquidity growth rate stood at 30,8 percent past year, and added that it decreased by 1.9 percent in the first Iranian calendar month compared to the last month of the past year.

"We are trying to decrease liquidity in the country, using several measures, along with controlling the value of the national currency and the inflation rate," he said, without revealing the actual measures.

In January, Bahmani said liquidity in Iran has reached 4240 trillion rials (over $346 billion).

The Central Bank previously reported that liquidity grew over five-fold seven years ago.

Bahmani previously said that the liquidity growth rate fell to 19.4 percent in the year which ended on March 19, 2012, compared to 25.2 percent in the preceding one.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Iran's economy decreased by 1.9 percent in 2012. The value of the country's current, the rial, also decreased by 40 percent in 2012.

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