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position in terms of its international debt, most notably down to international lenders not being allowed to interact formally with the Islamic Republic.
The central bank report shows that Iran's external debt reached $9.339bn at the end of the Iranian fiscal year ending March 2019. In comparison, Turkey’s external debt reached $286.2bn at the end of 2018, according to its central bank, Hurriyet reported.
Iran’s short-term external debt totalled $7.18bn at the end of March this year and $2.15bn is mid-term and long-term debts.
The central bank report then switches to euros saying, “Iran’s potential commitment was placed at €8.23bn of which €6.33bn belongs to mid-term and long-term debts and €1.86bn belongs to short term debts”.
“At end of March 2019, Iran’s external debt was placed at $9.3bn, recording a decrease of $0.4 billion over its level at end-February 2019." the CBI said. The CBI added, "At the end of March 2018, Iran’s external debt was placed at $11.3bn, recording a decrease of $2bn over its level during Iran’s fiscal year.”
7.0 FX
Sterling gains, euro declines against Iranian rial on official market
Iran's official pound sterling rate increased and the euro rate declined against the Iranian rial (IRR) by the close of trade at the end of the Persian calendar week on September 11, Central Bank of Iran (CBI) data showed.
The pound climbed after a rollercoaster few weeks related to Brexit pressures to trade at IRR51,875 compared to the recent low of IRR51,400, while the euro declined to IRR46,408 from IRR46,540 earlier in the week.
Sterling’s gain was likely related to positive sentiment on international forex markets over plans to hold off on a UK general election until after the October 31 Brexit deadline.
The US dollar, now essentially on official lockdown in Iran, remained fixed at IRR42,000. Iran continues to remove the greenback from daily transactions, partly to help the economy get around US sanctions.
Meanwhile, on the unofficial tertiary market, the dollar, euro and pound remained relatively stable in the Persian week after plateauing.
One US dollar bought IRR116,500, whereas one euro purchased IRR128,050 and one pound IRR143,550.
In the spot gold market, the old Azadi gold sovereign traded for IRR41mn, and the newer Emami traded for a slightly higher IRR41.2mn.
Iran - FX
Jun-17
Sep-17
Dec-17
Mar-18
Jun-18
Sep-18
Dec-18
Mar-19
Jun-19
Currency (units per EUR) (eop)
37,057
39,666
43,273
46,522
49,268
48,754
48,011
47,165
47,754
Currency (units per USD) (eop)
32,489
33,805
36,064
37,743
42,590
42,000
41,995
42,000
42,000
29 IRAN Country Report October 2019 www.intellinews.com