Page 28 - IRANRptJun19

and the governor of the central bank and his deputies fired over the debacle. The IRR made a partial recovery under the new central bank team but with the US becoming more and more aggressive with its sanctions and political actions against the Islamic Republic the gains have more or less been lost.
“The [Central] Bank is going to explore the real volume of demand and supply in the foreign currency market through this new mechanism,” the source said.
7.1 Forex rate platform
Iran to launch new OTC forex trading platform to quell black market turbulence
Iranian officials have announced that a new over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform will commence in the next few weeks in a bid to quell the black market trading of currencies, the Financial Tribune has reported.
Developed by the Money and Credit Council and Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the OTC platform will accept cash deposits and then be converted into an electronic platform. The move amounts to the latest attempt by authorities to pull in foreign currency reserves floating around the informal market.
Details of currencies to be on offer remain limited, however; so far it has been reported that the trading of five to six popular currencies will be hosted on the OTC platform.
Location-wise, the new trading floor will be based in the heart of Tehran’s forex market on Ferdowsi Street in the main lobby of the former CBI building.
CBI governor Abdolnasser Hemmati was quoted as saying that the market would be launched with the participation of banks and certified exchange shops under central bank supervision.
He added that exporters could also enter the regulated forex market, returning part of their profits to the OTC centre.
The announcement comes as the Iranian rial (IRR) comes under renewed pressure amid the economic turmoil caused by the reimposed US sanctions. The CBI initially announced i ts plan to get a grip on the wild foreign currency market in November. It said it would set the bar at which free market trading must be done.
Hemmati, who took the reins from predecessor Valiollah Seif in June, has so far managed to ride out the worst shocks dealt Iran’s foreign currency market by the sanctions.
He has ordered central bank interventions into the forex market, unlike Seif, who instead attempted to lock down the market by closing exchange bureaux across the country following the first severe 2018 nosedive of the rial experienced in April and May.
28 IRAN Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com