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reported IME chief Hamed Soltaninejad as saying at an opening ceremony for the futures market.
To start with, 100 kilograms of pistachios will be traded per futures contract. The first contracts are set to mature in November and December.
Buyers can place an order for a maximum 25 contracts. The daily price spread is set at +5% of the settlement price arranged a day earlier.
Iran and the US account for 85% of the world’s production of pistachios according to the Iran Pistachio Association. However in recent decades, given inefficiencies in export and drought in Iran, American pistachio farmers have pushed ahead of their main rival.
In May, the IME launched the world’s ​first saffron futures market​. T​ he market for the highly valued flower stem used as a condiment received a warm reception.
On the first day of trading, 102.7kg of crown saffron transferred hands, with 1,027 contracts signed. The average price per gram on the day was IRR67,800 to IRR70,000, Tasnim News Agency reported.
8.4 ​Fixed income
8.4.1​ Fixed income - bond news
Four Iranian banks to support central bank-backed bonds
Iran has launched a domestic Sharia-compliant bond to support Iranian manufacturers and non-oil sectors. Named the “Gam” (“Step”) bond, it was this week announced by Central Bank of Iran (CBI) governor Abdolnasser Hemmati.
Domestic manufacturers are enduring a massive downturn in production as Washington’s sanctions and “maximum pressure” campaign hammer Iran’s economy.
Hemmati said he expected the bond to raise 50,000 trillian rials ($3.6bn at the street market rate, $11.9bn at the official fixed rate). It will be issued by four local banks including Melli, Tejarat, Saderat and Mellat.
The CBI chief did not state how much the Sharia-compliant interest rate would be.
“I am confident that the measures taken by the banking system will see growth in the country’s production and economy,” Hemmati said at the bond launch. The Rouhani administration has issued several Islamic bonds during its tenure, including bonds to support investment in oil and gas.
Bonds have been previously touted by the administration as a way to generate revenue outside of the usual income sources.​ ​Oil sales continue to remain weak​ ​in the face of US sanctions, though there are wide differences between estimates of how much crude is managing to export.
“This is a budget to resist sanctions ... with the least possible dependence on oil,” Rouhani told parliament in remarks broadcast on state television in early December on the coming fiscal year’s state budget. “This budget announces to the world that despite sanctions we can manage the country.”
38​ IRAN Country Report​ March 2020 www.intellinews.com