Baku, Azerbaijan, March 19
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's trade turnover during the current Iranian fiscal year (started on March 21, 2014) has surpassed $150 billion, the country's First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said.
He didn't disclose any further details.
Meanwhile, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on March 18 that the country's non-oil exports hit a record high of $50 billion in the current year.
Iran's Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh also put the figure of the country's imports at $50 billion in an interview to state-run IRINN TV March 19.
According to the Islamic Republic's Customs Administration, Iran's non-oil exports, including condensates, stood at $46.306 billion in the first eleven months of the current fiscal year(March 21, 2014-Feb. 20), while imports accounted for $48.258 billion.
Meanwhile the Custom administration did not published its annual report for current fiscal year but based on the figures announced by Rouhani, Jahangiri and Nematzadeh, Iran's oil and oil products exports during the current fiscal year would be about $45 billion.
Jahangiri also said that the administration has absorbed $18 billion worth of investment from China in the current fiscal year, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported March 19.
Iranian officials say that about $100 billion of the country's money has been frozen in different countries such as China, India, and Japan and cannot be transferred to the country or elsewhere.
In November 2013, Iran announced that about $30 billion of its oil revenues have been blocked by Chinese banks due to the sanctions imposed on Tehran's banking system.
The two countries agreed over Chinese companies' financing of Iranian projects as an approach to return the blocked assets.
Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce Chairman Asadollah Asgaroladi said on Dec. 16 that China has financed several Iranian projects.
Chinese firms signed $45 billion worth of oil and gas deals with Iran during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's term in office as Iran's president. But most of them were cancelled due to long delays on Chinese part.
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