Page 27 - IRANRptDec21

Iran’s non-oil foreign trade grows 47% y/y to $45bn in 1H of Persian calendar year
Iran’s non-oil foreign trade was valued at $45bn in the first half of the Persian calendar year (March 21-September 22), marking growth of 47% y/y, according to the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).
Exports amounted to $21.8bn, up 61% y/y, Mehdi Mirashrafi added.
Iran’s main export destinations were China ($6.5bn), Iraq ($3.8bn), Turkey ($2.3bn), the UAE ($2.2bn) and Afghanistan ($1bn).
The top non-oil exports were liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol, polyethylene, semi-finished iron products, iron ingots, propane, urea, iron bars and cathodes.
5.1.3 Gross international reserves
Raisi declares Iran has accessed frozen financial assets abroad
Iran lifts restrictions on carrying cash and gold into country
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi declared during a November 16 parliamentary session that the country has gained access to financial assets that were frozen abroad, according Iranian media reports.
US sanctions have over the years resulted in tens of billions of dollars of Iranian assets held in foreign accounts—such as from oil sales—becoming inaccessible to Tehran. Ahead of the November 29 resumption of talks between Iran and major powers aimed at finding a way to restore the nuclear deal, or JCPOA, Iran has continued to pressure countries to release its funds, but there have been no official announcements from any of these countries of the unfreezing of Iranian assets.
Raisi, however, according to Fars News Agency, told lawmakers in an address to parliament: "In the beginning, the [Raisi] government [that took office in August] had problems with selling oil [due to US sanctions], but now the situation has improved and I can only say that the government has access to its resources in other countries."
On November 11, Ali Naderi, managing director of Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), wrote on Twitter that more than $3.5bn of frozen assets were released by a country to Iran.
Naderi did not name the state that purportedly released the assets, but said that “a significant portion of these resources are entering the country's trade cycle”.
Iran’s Supreme Council of Economic Coordination (SCEC) has announced an end to the restrictions placed on carrying cash and gold into the country without the need to make a declaration, LIT reported on June 13.
The €10,000 limit has been removed. Flows of cash and gold into Iran have been hindered since the coronavirus crisis brought most global travel to a halt early last year. The rule change might be designed to recover some of the lost circulation of gold and hard currency as the effects of the pandemic on global travel ease.
“The carrying of foreign currencies in the form of banknotes into the country is [from now] authorised for legal and real entities without maximum limits,” the LIT report said.
It added, however, that transfers should comply with laws and regulations adopted by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and be consistent with Iran’s laws on fighting money laundering.
Based on a previous decision by the CBI, announced in June 2020, individuals were required to declare the holding, carrying or exchanging of foreign banknotes in amounts above 10,000 euros or the equivalent in other foreign currencies.
27 IRAN Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com