Page 25 - IRANRptMay19

was up 550.33 points (0.35%) to reach 156,705.3 by close of trade in the Iranian capital.
The CBI and police are running ongoing campaigns to force speculators out of the forex market. It appeared in December that the CBI had got a grasp of the often wild forex market, however, this latest slip is likely to make citizens uneasy as it appears their grip may beginning to loosen.
The IRR had strengthened against hard currencies in recent months partly due to the central bank flooding the market with foreign currency while also limiting transactions per person.
An Iranian economist who prefers to remain anonymous but goes by the name Hooroozan said in February that the CBI’s inadequate supply including shrinking oil income, exporters’ refusal to deliver their profits back to the so-called NIMA local forex platform, in addition to speculating and rent seeking were the likely reasons for the continued decline.
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. It broke the IRR130,000 to the dollar free market rate on February 18 and stood at IRR135,000 in early afternoon trading in Tehran on February 28.
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.
25 IRAN Country Report May 2019 www.intellinews.com