Tehran, Iran, May 29
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad - Trend:
Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI) is expected to issue export credit guarantees worth $2.5 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21), an official with EGFI said.
Following Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers on May 8, foreigners have concerns and limitations to invest in Iran and open letters of credit (LCs) for business transactions in the country, Arash Shahraini, deputy head of Export Guarantee Fund of Iran, told Trend on May 29.
In the past two months, the country’s export finance cover has witnessed a major increase, reaching $300 million in value, he added.
Shahraini said he expected the figure to rise to $2.5 billion by the year-end under the current circumstances.
This is while the amount stood at $1.9 billion during the same period last year, he said.
The Iranian official said the country’s non-oil exports have seen a 40-percent rise in the past two months, noting that exports of gas condensate and petrochemical products were not part of it.
Shahraini further said the recent rise in non-oil exports is a result of fluctuations in Iran’s foreign exchange market, saying that exporters of the private sector will be exempted from the government’s new restrictions.
"There is no need for exporters to submit their foreign currencies to the Central Bank (as had been set out by the government) after their trade. They can use them for imports."
On April 9, Iran unified the country’s official and open market exchange rates after its currency, the rial, plunged to an all-time low on concerns over a return of crippling sanctions.
The US dollar jumped in a day from 54,700 rials to 60,000 rials in the open market in Tehran at the time. The US dollar was worth 36,000 rials in mid-September.
After an emergency cabinet meeting, Iran’s First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri was quoted by the state media as saying that from April 10 the price of the dollar would be 42,000 rials in both markets and for all business activities.
