FATF Blacklisting Has No Impact on Iran Foreign Trade
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
TEHRAN – Head of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce Majid-Reza Hariri believes since the country is in sanctions situation, the current Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decision for blacklisting has no impact on thecountry’s foreign trade and its impact is more political and psychological than economic reality.
Pointing to Iran’s refusal to join the FATF, Hariri said that Iran’s sidelining from any international organization or body has negative impacts both from other countries or even in the domestic market but the effects of joining or not joining the FATF are more results of psychological or political issues than economic reality.
On the negative impacts of not joining the FATF, Hariri said in the current condition those who used to work with Iran, and there were some connection loopholes, would cut their relations or minimize them because of the psychological climate and even food and medicines which are not under sanctions regime may be affected by the psychologically.
Touching upon the effects of not joining the FATF on the forex market, he said as the country is in its last days of the year, demands for forex, coronavirus saga and predicted economic recession in the country and their coincidence with FATF blacklisting, forex price has soared and monetary policy-makers have lost their control. He noted current devaluation of rial is because of those mentioned factors.
Hariri also admitted that recent economic and political developments in the country intensified the rise.
He said refusal to join the FATF inflicts the most damages on Iranian nationals abroad like traders or students and they are actually the first victims of this decision.
He then elaborated why FATF blacklisting has no impact on Iran’s foreign trade in the sanctions era, saying that for years Iran’s trade link with other countries has not been under the banking laws framework and the country has defined some ways for skirting the sanctions. So snubbing the FATF will have no impact on Iran in this regard, but in case there was no problem like sanction or psychological climate in the country, then joining the FATF was a necessity, he added.
Hariri noted that even when the country moved from blacklist to the grey list of the FATF, it was still considered as a risky country in banking affairs.
He reiterated that joining the FATF was politicized in the country and all of opponents of the bill for joining the FATF were politically motivated while this is just an economic issue.
On the impacts of FATF blacklisting on the domestic market, he said Iranian markets like gold and forex are unpredictable because they are affected after any political event and one cannot predict specific time for depletion of psychological shocks in the market.
