Page 27 - IRANRptSep18

Iran announces adjusted forex cap on travel money at €5,000
Ferdowsi foreign exchange hub reopens in Tehran as semblance of calm is returned to market by new trading rules
rely on what he referred to as a “secondary currency market”.
The package he outlined started to show immediate effects. The all-time low of more than IRR120,000 that the rial posted against the dollar a couple of weeks back prior to the unveiling of the package has not been seen again. The unofficial rate stood at around 106,000 as August 21 came to an end. That’s an improvement but considering the dollar only bought around IRR35,000 at the start of this year, it’s nothing to celebrate. Mind you, the rial is not alone. Turkey’s lira is down around 40% against the dollar in the year to date, and the Russian ruble has lost around 14%.
The Central Bank of Iran (CB) has announced that the forex spending cap on those travelling outside of the country now stands at €5,000.
The move was confirmed on August 8 as part of Iran’s overhaul of its foreign exchange system under new CBI governor Abdolnasser Hemmati, Islamic Republic News Agency reported. A previous system, brought in amid the collapse of the Iranian rial (IRR) against the dollar largely caused by the renewed US sanctions campaign launched against the Iranian economy, was blamed for exacerbating economic woes suffered by traders, travellers and others requiring hard currency.
Prior to the announcement by the central bank on the revised foreign exchange amount travellers are entitled to, those applying for sums were complaining of several administrative hurdles in accessing the previous approved amounts of €500 for regional travel and €1,000 for further afield.
As previously, only authorised bureaux de change will be eligible to offer the travel money at the second listed market rate. Those wanting more euros will have to use the higher rate of IRR10,000 to the euro and what they receive will depend on supply and demand.
The CBI said that the travel money allowance at the official and most generous rate would be offered to 23 groups of people including those travelling for medical treatment, students going abroad facing university fees, registration fees or costs for publishing academic papers, and business people bound for business exhibitions.
Exchange bureaux are also allowed to sell up to €100 per person for consular fees charged by foreign embassies, including those for visa and consulate services.
Ferdowsi Street, the downtown hub of Tehran’s unofficial foreign exchange trade, is returning to life. Money changers were open for business on August 13, with several dozen more outlets being given licences to trade by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) under new foreign currency market rules adopted last week.
Ferdowsi’s bureaux de change have been all but shut since the Persian New Year in March. Prior to getting the boot, the previous CBI governor, Valiollah Seif, ordered all the outlets to roll down the shutters until further notice as he sought to halt the collapse of the Iranian rial against hard currencies, triggered by the US decision to reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Following Seif’s diktat, the black market went into a tailspin with the limiting of the availability of foreign currencies through unofficial channels and the official channel—the government’s much more generous rate was only made available to selected
27 IRAN Country Report September 2018 www.intellinews.com