Iran’s Rupee Deposit in UCO Bank Not Enough to Settle Accounts
Iran’s Rupee Deposit in UCO Bank Not Enough to Settle Accounts
The Managing Director of UCO Bank of India says that Iran’s deposit in the bank in Indian national currency rupee is not enough for settling financial obligation and this is because of the decline in purchase of Iran’s crude oil by Indians as well as decline in the trade exchange between the two states.

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Managing Director of UCO Bank of India says that Iran’s deposit in the bank in Indian national currency rupee is not enough for settling financial obligation and this is because of the decline in purchase of Iran’s crude oil by Indians as well as decline in the trade exchange between the two states.

In the meeting of Iran-India Joint Chamber of Commerce with economic and banking activists of the two countries, the MD of UCO Bank Mr. Soma Sankara Prasad said that the bank has played a key role in improving the trade between the two countries and UCO Bank is the only Indian bank which has office in Tehran. He added that the bank has completed a 10-year process for implementing mechanism for payment in national currencies of the two countries and it has tried as a bank to accelerate the trade exchanges between the two states.

On delay for settling the financial obligations, he said that such a similar meeting had been held in the recent past where Indian exporters raised the same complaint, adding that the delay is rooted in decline in India’s oil purchase from Iran, and until 2019 when India used to buy Iran’s oil there was no problem in settling commercial exchange payments because there was enough money in the account but after 2019, the oil purchase was limited and Iran’s rupee deposit in its account was declined.

Prasad emphasized that both countries should find ways for increasing Iran’s rupee deposit in the bank for swift financial transactions, adding that statesmen of Iran and India should talk for finding new ways for increasing their bilateral trade exchanges. He reiterated that UCO Bank only plays the role for accelerating financial exchanges between the two states, and governments and private sectors of the two countries are in charge of increasing the trade exchanges.

Meanwhile Head of Iran-India Joint Chamber of Commerce Mr. Ebrahim Jamili, for his part, pointed to the recent change in Indian government’s approach and expressing interest for improving cooperation to the pre-sanctions era level and said that although he did not know how much India was serious in its recent approach, he called this approach promising.

He emphasized that resolving banking problems will lead to the rise in the trade exchanges, adding that although UCO Bank has been Iran’s trade partner from long time and it has had good cooperation even in the sanctions era but the chamber has some complaints about the bank’s performance.

Jamili went on to say that trade is a two-way road and demands of both sides should be considered, adding that both sides need more trust for cooperation, noting that business partners of Iran has trusted UCO Bank and deposit their money in the bank and they expect the bank to accelerate cooperation for the transfer of money and financial cooperation. Jamili reiterated that both Iranian and Iranian traders do not get their money in due time while Iran and India have signed the MoU for using mechanism of using national currencies.

He added that the chamber received some complaints from both Iranian and Indian traders over the failure of UCO Bank in fulfilling its commitment in timely payments.