Ali Bahadori-Jahromi defended the Raisi administration’s performance in stabilizing the currency market before the recent fluctuations, adding, however, that the exchange rate began to spike due to the enemy’s plots.

“This administration created relative stability in the currency market for about one year and three months. But, the foreign currency exchange rate has increased since [November], coinciding with the enemy’s disappointment with the street riots,” he said.

Bahadori-Jahromi noted that the currency volatility is aimed at creating economic insecurity, dissuading investment, and halting economic growth.

In recent months, he went on to say that, Iran’s oil sales and exports have increased with the non-oil trade balance turning positive. “Yet, even if we don’t sell oil, the country’s foreign exchange needs will be met.”

“Almost always, the supply of [foreign] currency … has been more than its demand. Given these conditions, the price should naturally come down, but it is increasing in the free market because of the creation of expectations as well as media and psychological hype,” he added.

He further said that attracting investments by the Iranians abroad in the knowledge-based area is one of the economic potentials the administration has focused on.

Speaking in his weekly press conference,  Bahadori Jahromi said that from the beginning of the Raisi administration in September 2021, over $409.2 million of investment was realized in 25 projects.

Industry, services, agriculture, utility, gas, transportation, mining, and construction sectors were the areas of investment.

Bahadori also reported a 2.5 increase in both domestic and foreign investment in the current administration’s first year compared to the previous administration’s last year of governance.

The spokesman added: “Only in the first year [of the current administration], 338 projects worth $10.2 billion have been ratified to carry out, of which 294 projects worth $5.950 billion have been finalized put in operation.”

Iran’s Government Spokesman stated that Raisi’s administration is fully ready to support Iranian citizens living abroad to return to the country anytime they want.

Bahadori-Jahromi  inresponse to a question said:”There are zero barriers to Iranians returning to the country and resuming their activities, in case they have no private plaintiffs.”

He further remarked that facilitating packages are prepared by Iran’s Foreign Ministry such as “Mikhak” and “Porsesh” to offer services for Iranian citizens intending to return to the country.

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Speaking to ILNA, Ali Shariati touched upon the U.S. decisions for creating some restriction for arrival of dollar in Iraq and said that one should consider this point that Iran is under unfair and cruel U.S. sanctions and all in Iran try to increase oil sales and return its money back to the country to reinforce some part of the forex resources. He further said Iraq as the second trade partner of Iran that has traditional banking system has always helped Iran to round the sanctions and this decision of the U.S. will make the condition difficult.

He added that however this decision is part of the reality of the forex market of the country and we should not forget this point that Iraq will soon join the SWIFT and this will make Iran lose some of its tools for rounding the sanctions and therefore officials do their best to bring into the country all of its forex to stabilize and cause peace in the market.

Shariati stated that all efforts of the statesmen are to ease exit and arrival of the forex and efforts for unfreezing the funds or connection of Iranian and banks are in this line.

He reiterated that the officials should calculate all of their actions because Russia with increasing sales of oil and gas will definitely not understand Iran’s problems but if Iran can ease trade with China and Iraq it will benefit but so far no detail of agreements with China has been revealed.

He also criticized the current policy of the Central Bank for selling dollar for 28,500 tomans for imports and said that it is like the decision of President Rouhani government’s decision of selling dollar for 4200 tomans which was mocked and led to more corruption.

Shariati reiterated that preferential rate of forex will lead to rent-seeking and corruption and the Central Bank should take lesson from the past, reiterating that in the current economic condition, exporters will be loser of this policy and expressed hope soon businesses in the country would pick up.

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Khandouzi said considering that from 2018 to 2022 the country has passed a four-year inflation era, the main priority of the economic headquarters of the government is to use all tools to rein the inflation.

He added that the government has tried to manage its budget deficits, adding that then it will manage the banking system and rein unruly money generation in this system for controlling the inflation.

Khandouzi went on to say that the third action is to manage inflation expectation like the issue of forex, adding that the policy of the government has been to create stability in the forex market that unfortunately some people had wrong notions that the government was to fix the forex rate on a certain rate but the government actually emphasized the stability of the forex market in the NIMA system.

He noted that most imports should be channeled via the NIMA system where the average price of dollar will be 28,500 tomans and major needs of the country which is 85% are met via this official market.

He reiterated that the government and the Central Bank are determined to manage the forex demands in the market, adding that the remaining forex demands of the country belongs to the unofficial imports and smuggled goods whose forex are provided via the futures channels and it almost covers 15% of the forex market, and of course it has its own impact on the price of imported goods.

On the recent change in the management of the Central Bank and new policies of the bank, Khandouzi said that the new policy which has been put on the agenda of the government and the Central Bank is to take new measures with new teams for managing the forex demands in the market.

He went on to say that some of the fluctuations in the forex market have been because of the inflation expectations and but some mistakes in the Central Bank which led to this inflation expectations and some people thought the country was facing with the shortage of dollars and rushed to buy it and it led to rise in the price of dollar.

On the complaints of people about the economic condition, the minister said that there is a difference between the complaints of the people and unfair criticisms, adding that people are right and their complaints are logical and the government is trying hard to manage these issues.

Khandouzi went on to say that when the current government took office last year, the inflation rate was 59.3% but today the inflation condition is in much better condition although the current 40% is not favorable but the policies are focused to reduce the inflation rate in the next two years.

He reiterated that the government and country according to the statistics which are announced by the official bodies is not in the worst condition and the country is on the improvement track and of course the 40-percent inflation rate is not good for the people and the country.

Khandouzi reiterated that the government tries to control inflation pressure on the public by taking proper measures. He reiterated that the government does not like the price of dollar to rise in the market while some accuse the government of enjoying the devaluation of rial to cover its budget deficit.

He also criticized the previous government for some of current problems like tying the economic condition to the international relations.

Khandouzi went on to say that the non-oil exports in 10 months of the current year have grown by 19% comparing to the same period last year and it shows that the government is expanding its economic interactions with other countries which like to work with Iran.

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In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdolnasser Hemmti added it was the most recent US bid to create tumult in the domestic forex market, IRNA wrote.

In May 2018, under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, the US withdrew unilaterally from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Iran and the P5+1 in July 2015, and reimposed Washington’s sanctions against Tehran in a bid to cripple its economy.

Iran retaliated by scaling back its obligations under the nuclear deal.

Having faced a humiliating defeat in the implementation of its hostile policies against the Islamic Republic, the US has mounted bids to induce the international community to reimpose UN sanctions, lifted following the implementation of the JCPOA, on Iran – a move that is highly anticipated to be doomed to another abject failure.

Hemmati advised people against hefty investments in the risky forex market.

He said it seems as if the US does not have any other measure to use as part of its “maximum pressure campaign” which Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif slammed as economic terrorism.

Assuring that maintaining the stability of the market is a CBI priority, Hemmati added the central bank will refrain from controlling rates through oversupplying the market with foreign currency in an effort to prevent arbitrage.

In addition to increasing injection of foreign currency into the secondary foreign exchange market, locally known by the acronym NIMA, he said the CBI announced that domestic petrochemical, steel and mining companies can directly sell their forex revenues to authorized currency exchanges for importing certain products.

This is to facilitate and accelerate providing importers with foreign currency resources, he added.

On Monday, Hemmati said the country’s economy has begun to recover after the shock given by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The initial CBI report on the economic growth in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20) indicates that the domestic economy is regaining its balance after the coronavirus shock, he noted.

The country’s economic growth is promising when compared to that of those countries that have not been under any sanction and their financial systems have been struggling only with the coronavirus pandemic, the CBI head added.

Statistics show that Iran’s economic growth excluding oil export revenues in the first quarter of this year stood at -0.6 percent, while including oil incomes it was -2.8%, Hemmati said.

Posting a negative economic growth, compared to that of the same period last year, in the current year is natural and due to the pressure of sanctions and a decline in global oil demand over the outbreak of COVID-19, he added.

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Abdolnasser Hemmati said on Monday that prices in the forex market had surged over the past days mainly because of a recent government decision to increase the price of fuel and rumors that Iran would have problems finding a budget announced for the next Persian calendar year starting in late March.

“We do not treat the issue of currency rate and its fluctuations with hysteria,” said Hemmati, adding, “We will bring stability back to the forex market.”

The CBI chief said certain people were benefitting from creating a bubble in the prices of foreign currencies.

“Based on our information, networks outside of the country are also working to increase the currency price,” said Hemmati, without elaborating.

Reports from the unofficial currency market in downtown Tehran on Monday showed that prices had surged by nearly 25 percent compared to late November.

Iran’s rial closed at 138,000 against the US dollar on Monday, the lowest on record for the national currency since early summer.

Hemmati said various factors had played a role in rial’s devaluation in recent days, including continued unrest in neighboring Iraq which had significantly affected Iran’s exports to the Arab country.

He said demand for hard currency had also increased in December mainly because Iranian companies were clearing debts owed to foreigners in days leading to the Christmas.

The chief banker said government’s announcement of an annual budget bill on Monday had also fueled speculations in the market that Iran would face financial difficulties next year mainly because of the American sanctions imposed on the country.

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