Foreign Currency Archives - Iran News Daily

Estimated $50b in Household Foreign Currency Holdings in Iran

siavash — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 11:35:04 +0000

Estimated $50b in Household Foreign Currency Holdings in Iran

TEHRAN (Iran News) Speaking about the country’s economic conditions and persistent inflation, Pour-Ebrahimi noted that many Iranians have turned to investments in foreign currency and gold to protect their assets from inflation. He explained that these assets, similar to real estate, have values that fluctuate in line with inflation, making them a preferred store of wealth.

He attributed this trend to the high inflation rates in the country and criticized previous administrations for failing to channel these assets into productive economic activities. He recalled that during previous governments, banks had introduced foreign currency deposits, allowing people to earn interest on their foreign currency holdings and settle loans based on the currency value.

However, he criticized a policy change in which depositors were later forced to withdraw their foreign currency holdings in Iranian rials at fixed rates, a move that he described as legally and economically unjustified. This, he argued, led people to keep their savings in cash or move them into informal markets, further limiting capital available for productive investment.

Pour-Ebrahimi emphasized that if even a portion of these household savings were reinvested into production, it could help boost Iran’s economic growth. He stressed that economic growth depends on reinvesting assets into productive sectors, increasing GDP, and creating new wealth. Without investment, he warned, Iran’s economy would shrink, leading to lower incomes and reduced consumption.

He concluded by urging authorities to take measures that encourage people to reintegrate these assets into the formal economy, thereby strengthening Iran’s financial system and supporting sustainable economic development.

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Iran’s accessible foreign currency reserves exceed $41b in 2022: IMF

mahla — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 04:39:50 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) –Iran’s official accessible foreign currency reserves have increased significantly in 2022, registering a more than 94 percent rise to exceed $41 billion, Tasnim News Agency reported on Sunday, citing data released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Islamic Republic’s gross official reserves are seen to increase by about $20 billion from $21.3 billion in 2021 to reach $41.4 billion in 2022, the IMF data showed.

The IMF put Iran’s foreign currency reserves at nearly $15 billion in 2019, a year after former U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran by imposing “toughest ever” sanctions.

It was a dramatic drop from the data in 2018 when Iran’s reserves stood at $122.5 billion.

The international financial institution blamed the nosedive on U.S. unilateral sanctions, which blocked Iran’s access to its funds overseas.

According to Tasnim, the decline deepened in 2020 to hit $12.4, the lowest in 18 years.

However, the slide was reversed in 2021, after the current government administration took office and the country managed to add approximately $8.9 billion to its ready-to-use deposit to reach $21.3 billion.

Tasnim attributed the jump in the country’s gross official reserves to the government of President Ebrahim Raisi’s active diplomacy to offset U.S. sanctions.

According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), Iran’s non-oil trade surpassed $100 billion in the past 11 months, after Raisi took office in August last year. It showed a 31 percent increase compared to the previous corresponding period.

In the latest ranking of the world’s largest economies by IMF, Iran was ranked 20th and stands higher than many European countries such as Poland, the Netherlands, Argentina, Switzerland, Belgium, and Austria.

According to the international organization, the value of Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita when adjusted by PPP was $1.436 trillion in 2021.

Based on the IMF data, despite being subjected to harsh sanctions over the past few years Iran’s economy was reported to be larger than 173 countries in the mentioned year.

The International Monetary Fund has recently predicted that Iran’s GDP, based on purchasing power index, will increase by $137 billion in 2022 to $1.573 trillion.

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Rouhani: Iran to Use Foreign Assets Held Abroad to Balance Market

reporter 1222 — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 10:11:47 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran President Hassan Rouhani unveiled plans to use the foreign currency reserve assets held in other countries in order to balance the currency market at home.

Speaking at a cabinet session on Wednesday, President of Iran said his administration has devised plans to balance the market situation and contain the price hikes that have put pressure on people.

The Central Bank of Iran is trying to push the currency prices to a balanced rate, he noted, urging domestic exporters to abide by the regulations and repatriate the money earned by exports.

“We are trying to use the currency we hold in other countries as reserves, as good measures have been taken in recent days with at least three countries,” the president said.

Pointing to the fluctuations in the currency market over the past days, Rouhani assured people that the foreign currency rates will regain balance in the coming days.

The president also touched on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s visit to Iran, saying Tehran and Baghdad have reached good agreements on customs affairs, exchange of commodities, and economic and banking cooperation.

“We have also had good political ties with Russia and China since years ago, which have improved in recent weeks,” Rouhani said, adding that he has delivered a message via Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for Russian President Vladimir Putin about closer regional relations.

“We hope to continue cooperation with the neighbors and friends, including Russia, Iraq, Pakistan, Qatar and Afghanistan,” the president added.

In a joint press conference with Rouhani on Tuesday, Iraq’s visiting prime minister said his country is standing by Iran to help it overcome the economic challenges.

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Iran, Iraq to Agree on Foreign Currency Deal

reporter 1222 — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 13:01:54 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – An official from the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) informed that Iraq and Iran are on the verge of finalizing a foreign currency agreement which will inundate Iran’s market with several million US dollars in the near future.

As Hamid Ghanbari said, the two neighboring countries are to expand foreign currency and banking ties.

Hamid Ghanbari, who accompanied Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif into his recent visit to Iraq, added that in this visit the two sides have negotiated on various cooperation fields and all the issues regarding the foreign currency deal will be finalized during the current Iraqi PM visit to Iran.

Almost a year ago, Iran and Iraq inked a banking agreement and the CBI governor made a trip to Iraq almost a month ago.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday noon.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Al-Kadhimi is scheduled to hold talks with senior Iranian officials, including the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei during his visit to Tehran.

This is Al-Kadhimi’s first international trip after assuming office in April.

The trip follows Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s visit to Baghdad and Erbil on Sunday (July 19).

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President Rouhani: US Plotting to Disrupt Forex Market

reporter 1222 — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 10:12:18 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that the US has hatched new plots to harm Iran’s economy by disrupting the country’s forex market.

One thing that can foil the US plot is activating the country’s production and export sectors, Rouhani said via video links while opening five industrial projects in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province.

He added that the government is making all-out efforts to remove the obstacles in the way of production.

He further said that an electronic government would facilitate the administrative processes. “The electronic government is one of the objectives the government will pursue seriously this year and people will see the results in the coming months”.

The Iranian president also said that the government will ramp up pressure on the country’s exporters to return the hard currency they have earned over the past two and a half years to the forex market where prices have soared to highs not seen in decades.

After a brief hiatus, major currencies resumed rallies going back to their bad old ways on Wednesday as Central Bank of Iran’s selected moneychangers demanded higher rates.

The US dollar rose to 224,000 rials in the free market, up approximately 5,000 rials compared to a session earlier to grab 2.3% gain overnight. Euro hiked about 1.5% to 250,000 rials and the UK pound sterling fetched 279,000 rials, up slightly from 276,000 rials the day earlier.

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Iran to impose cap on carrying foreign currencies

reporter 1222 — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 06:38:28 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has imposed a cap on how much individuals can carry foreign cash amid efforts meant to stabilize the foreign currencies market in the country.

The Central Bank of Iran said in a statement that it had ordered banks and credit institutions across the country to process requests by individuals who want to declare carrying sums above 10,000 euros or their equivalents in other foreign currencies, Press TV reported.

The statement said holding, carrying, or exchanging foreign banknotes above the limit would require documents from credit institutions or the customs office that would enable holders to keep the cash for six months.

It said the amount of cash exceeding the limit should be either deposited or sold to the credit institutions after the six-month period based on the price announced on a government-run website monitoring the forex dealers.

The CBI said that foreign cash holders would have three months to obtain the required documents or face legal action.

It warned that money laundering and terrorism financing laws would also apply to people who refuse to declare foreign cash that has been earned through illegal means.

The announcement comes amid CBI efforts to calm the exchange market in Iran where foreign currency prices have soared in recent weeks mainly as a result of closures in the country over the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic.

The CBI says it is unwilling to interfere in the forex prices although it insists that its measures would help the rial regain part of its lost value in the near future.

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Rouhani stresses on forex rates control

reporter 1222 — Wed, 20 May 2020 05:08:55 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday stressed the need to control the foreign exchange (forex) rates and prevent their hikes.

Speaking in the 137th session of the Government’s Economic Coordination Headquarters, Rouhani called on the economic organizations and banking system to coordinate the affairs to control the forex rates.

The president urged the officials to give top priority to basic goods, medicines, equipment, and raw materials needed by the production sector while allocating foreign exchange.

During the meeting, the topics mainly revolved around the factors playing effective roles in boosting production and exports leading to the increase of foreign currency reserves.

The ministries of energy, communications and information technology, and the Central Bank of Iran was tasked with following up digital currency extraction and making the necessary plans.

Given the problems in the global economy and providing foreign exchange, the ways of reimbursement of forex loans granted by the National Development Fund to investors in the electricity industry were reviewed.

In the first stage, the sector was given two more years to repay the loan, the officials decided to further discuss the issue at expert-level commissions and inform the government of its outcome.

The Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, Oil Ministry, and Planning and Budget Organization (PBO) was urged to continuously monitor exports, foreign exchange, and trade policies, remove barriers, and provide the necessary facilities for exporters.

The top officials also exchanged views on diversifying import and export methods and strengthening export structures and policies.

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CBI vows to drive foreign exchange market towards stability

reporter 1222 — Tue, 19 May 2020 05:38:40 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) is taking serious steps to establish stability in the market, said its Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati in an Instagram post on Monday.

Stating that the current situation of the markets in the country is not more complicated than in August and September last year, the official said, “In those days, as the US sanctions were intensifying, the foreign exchange markets were severely disrupted and the dollar rate in the market reached very high levels,” IRNA quoted Hemmati saying.

But with the CBI management and the measures taken, despite all the problems over the past two years, the relative stability of markets was retained and the country registered positive economic growth at the end of the previous Iranian calendar year (March 19), the chief banker said.

He also said that the current turbulence in the market is a result of the coronavirus outbreak which causes the three-month shutdown of many economic activities in the country and also the reduction of oil prices as well as the continuous pressures of the US sanctions.

“The situation is difficult, but it is improving and can be managed and stabilized,” Hemmati added.

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Convert to Lira, Erdogan Urges People

reporter 1222 — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 14:00:05 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Turks to convert their foreign currency to Turkish lira, asking them to “leave the dollar”.

“Leave the dollar and the rest. Let’s convert to our money, the Turkish lira. The Turkish lira doesn’t lose value anymore. Let’s show our patriotism like this,” Erdogan said, World News reported.

Erdogan also added that Turkey plans to have its own locally made fighter jet ready in 5-6 years amid an ongoing dispute with the United States over the purchase of F-35 jets.

In 2019 lira has dropped 10 percent, as the Turkish government has delayed key economic reforms amid the rising political tensions within the country.

In 2018, Erdogan announced that his country would boycott US electronic goods, citing “an economic attack” against Turkey.

He continued to say that Turks should instead opt for locally produced gadgets or those manufactured by Turkey’s economic partners, possibly “new” ones, in a bid to strengthen the lira.

Turkish national currency collapsed amid geopolitical tensions and deteriorating relations with the United States.

In mid-September last year, the central bank raised its key rate by 625 basis points to 24 percent per annum, which helped strengthen the Turkish lira.

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Economy returning to normalcy as a result of CBI proper measures: Hemmati

reporter 1222 — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 05:51:18 +0000

The CBI governor Abdolnaser Hemmati made the remarks in the 30th edition of Islamic Banking Conference in Tehran on Saturday.

During the conference, Hemmati said that as a result of the proper policies that the CBI took in monetary and foreign currency field, the situation of the country’s economy is returning to normal despite being under the most unprecedented sanctions.

“Thanks God, we are witnessing the return of stability to the country’s economy, the basis of which is the stability of the foreign currency market which has witnessed a gradual decline in the prices in the recent months,” the CBI governor said.

Hemmati also said that the inflation rate is losing momentum as a result of the declining prices in the forex market.

He further described liquidity management and helping the production sector as two major goals of the CBI, adding that the 5.6% increase in the present of industrial companies on the exchange market shows a gradual improvement in producing industrial products.

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