Iran Can Counter U.S. Unilateral Sanctions
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
TEHRAN – Governor of Central Bank of Iran (CBI) called bartering one of the classic methods for countering U.S. unilateral sanctions.
: In a joint meeting with Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, Minister of Oil and Minister of Agriculture Jihad, Abdul Nasser Hemmati said: “In the current situation that the U.S. has considered a variety of decisions to prevent Iran from monetary and banking exchanges, bartering oil for commodities can counter Washington’s sanctions.”
The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran added that bartering is one of the ways to develop countries’ foreign trade.
Hemmati went on to say: “Considering the history of bartering in Iran, the existing program will be implemented in a wider dimension and in two stages, the first stage of which will include the supply of basic commodities, and the second stage will include essential goods and raw materials needed by production units.”
Earlier on Wednesday, he also called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to grant Iran the emergency loans it needs to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
The CBI governor made the remarks while addressing the governors of the central banks of the member-states of the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) via video conference.
“It is expected from the IMF to quickly and without any discrimination and without being influenced by political lobbying or pressures from other countries, including the U.S.,” Hemmati said while referring to Iran’s request for receiving emergency loans from the IMF.
He emphasized that the COVID-19 disease has harmed many countries and Iran has suffered more than many countries, and said, “Despite the severe sanctions of the US and the difficult situation that the country is facing, Iran has managed to contain this issue and make progress with its economic policies.”
Hemmati said the present situation has made many world countries face budget and liquidity problems and Iran is not an exception.
“Iran managed to take suitable measures by relying on its legal sources, but the problem is that the illegal U.S. sanctions have deprived Iran of gaining access to its resources in the absence of any acceptable logic,” he added.
Hemmati had earlier said that Iran had requested a $5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund in the corona campaign package of Rapid Financial Instrument.
In the meantime, an IMF spokesman told IRNA on the condition of anonymity that “We have had discussions with the Iranian authorities to better understand their request for emergency financing from the Fund.”
