IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – The Governor of Iran Central Bank Mr. Abdolnasser Hemmati yesterday had a virtual meeting with Ghana’s Economy Minister and during the meeting they explored ways for boosting their banking cooperation.

In the meeting which was held upon the request of Ghanaian Economy Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, both sides exchanged views and experiences, and talked about some remained issues from the previous meeting  and about the current condition of G24 and its future as well as discussing ways for their expansion and coordination with IMF and World Bank.

By the way, both parties expressed views on forming a specialized group with participation of private sector and Mr. Hemmati welcomed the proposal for more bilateral cooperation and called for continuity of contacts between both states.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Director of Legal Studies Department of Iran’s Central Bank yesterday reacted to a Bahraini court’s verdict on Iranian banks and called it something lacking legal validity and it is just a political move.

Bahraini court on Wednesday issued legal verdicts in five money-laundering cases, convicting the Central Bank of Iran, along with a number of Iranian banks, the Future Bank, and five of its officials.

The court found all the defendants guilty, sentencing the Future Bank officials to five years in prison, and to 1 million Bahraini dinars (SR10 million approximately) fines each.

The court also sentenced the Central Bank of Iran and the other banks implicated in the wide money-laundering scheme to fines of 1 million Bahraini dinars each.

The total of fines imposed on the Iran Central Bank and the other implicated banks reached 37 million Bahraini dinars. The court also ordered the confiscation of the illegally transferred money that reached $112 million.

But on Saturday, Director of the Legal Studies Department of Iran Central Bank, reacting to the report, said that so far Bahrain government has not communicated anything on Iranian banks and the CBI, adding that in case the court had issued the verdict, it would be legally invalid because the court has not given the defendant chance to defend.

Morteza Etebari said that such a verdict is a political move and it is natural that Iran will not refrain from any effort to defend its rights and Bahrain government is responsible for the consequences.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Governor of Iran Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati yesterday blamed the sanctions for recent devaluation of the national currency against the foreign currencies in the forex market.

On the sidelines of a ceremony for honoring those exporters who have repatriated their earned forex into the country, Hemmati said that in cooperation with the supervisory organs, $8b out of $27b resulted from the exports which had not been repatriated into the country has returned into the national economic cycle and expressed hope that soon the remaining $19b would return into the country which would help the national currency gains value.

He noted that the CBI has sent the list of exporters, who have not returned their forex into the country, to the Judiciary, expressing hope the Judiciary would help the bank in return of the forex.

On the frozen money of the country in foreign banks, Hemmati said that billions of dollars of the country have been blocked in foreign banks and they are not ready to unblock them due to their fear of the U.S. fines. He added that fortunately some part of them has been blocked and would be injected into the national economic cycle, expressing hope that by injection of the unblocked forex, the power of CBI for interfering in the market for supplying forex would increase.

He reiterated that the CBI accepts any foreign currencies from exporters and they cannot resort to such pretexts that their partners are only ready to pay their money in their national currencies.

Hemmati pointed to the efforts of enemies for closing the national economic gateways and exerting heavy sanctions, adding that fortunately the Islamic Republic of Iran in collaboration with exporters and economic activists has managed the problems and the country is experiencing the last days of pressures.

He noted that oil exports of the country have improved in recent months and he hopes the economic growth would bounce back and become positive.

Hemmati also pointed to the outbreak of Coronavirus and called it a disaster for global economy, adding that Iran also was affected by the virus. He said all programs of the country for getting out of recession or reducing inflation were going ahead well till April but since June, the economic growth has lost its progress.

He added that nobody can benefit from devaluation of national currency and rise in the price of dollar, adding that some people may benefit of it but the society would be the main loser and CBI and the government are not after raising the price of the dollar in order to compensate the budget deficit.

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Two weeks ago, it was approved by the Money and Credit Council of Iran that those whose businesses are faced with problems due to the spread of the virus can postpone paying their installments for three months, IRNA reported.

The new virus, a respiratory disease also known as COVID-19, emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei Province late last year. It has infected more than 180,000 people worldwide and killed over 7,000.

Other measures have been taken to facilitate banking transactions at home in an effort to contain the coronavirus spread in the country, such as raising the ceiling of electronic money transfer through ATMs to $2,380 per day and increasing electronic banking services.

In Iran, the rapid spread of coronavirus has infected some 16,169 people and killed 988, according to official figures released on Tuesday.

He appreciated efforts by the domestic banks’ staff who make sacrifices under the present tough circumstances to provide people with sustainable services, stressing that measures, such as further promotion of telecommuting, have been employed to reduce the infection risk for them.

He stressed that Iran had never asked for a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the past 60 years, noting that, “This is among the rights of our country and the smallest step [in the fight against the virus]. We have submitted a request [to the IMF] and are waiting to see what decision those claiming to be promoting justice in the international arena will make and whether US interference would impact the process or not. We are following up on the case on a daily basis.”

Iran has huge monetary resources outside the country which are all blocked by the US, Hemmati said, adding since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (started in March 2019), the CBI has supplied $39.2 billion for imports.

In May 2018, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Iran and the P5+1, and reimposed Washington’s sanctions on Tehran. In the aftermath of the US withdrawal, foreign banks were forced by Washington to freeze Iranian assets.

The sanctions have also hindered the delivery of international humanitarian aid, drugs and medical equipment to Iran amid the country’s efforts to contain the coronavirus spread.

Hemmati noted that since March 2019, Iran has imported basic goods and medical equipment worth $14.8 billion, giving assurance that the country is faced with no problem in terms of meeting the domestic needs.

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Highlighting ratification of appending article 14th of anti-money laundering law as a prominent step by the government to root out corruption, Rabiei said, “Based on the newly-ratified regulation, the national risk assessment working group will be duty bound to form specialized working groups to review possible threats of money laundering and financing terrorism.”

“The move testifies that Iran is determined to counter money laundering activities and financial supports for terrorism,” Rabiei emphasized.

“According to the regulation, the expert working groups must be formed to monitor various fields of threat assessment, national vulnerability, banking system vulnerability, exchange market vulnerability, insurance sector vulnerability and vulnerability of other credit and financial institutions and non-financial sector,” the spokesman said.

“The entire executive bodies, including Interior Ministry, Trade Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Justice Ministry, Police, Iran Custom Administration, Central Bank and intelligence and security bodies are duty bounded to prepare required information and data for the specialized working groups,” Rabiei stated.

At the beginning of the current year, the Expediency Council gave approval to an anti-money laundering bill seen as crucial to maintaining international trade and banking ties.

The bill on amending the law to counter money laundering was approved with certain changes and sent to the Majlis speaker to be communicated to the government.

The Expediency Council settles disputes between parliament, which approved the bill last year, and the Guardian Council, which vets all legislation and had rejected it.

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