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the Rouhani cabinet's move in February to approve the penalty waiver for loans amounting to IRR1bn.
8.1.5 Banks specific issues
SWIFT reportedly disconnects Central Bank of Iran from interbank network
Iran suffered a wounding blow in early November when SWIFT, the world's biggest interbank-transfer network, announced under pressure from the US that it was taking the "regrettable" step of suspending some Iranian banks' access to its messaging system "in the interest of the stability and integrity of the wider global financial system".
Fearing a blanket ban on Iranian banks being connected to SWIFT, French officials have been working to keep at least one Iranian bank connected to the financial telecommunication system .
Belgium-based SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) did not specify which “certain Iranian banks” it was referring to in its disconnection announcement. The move came as a disappointment to those trying to protect Iran’s trading activities, particularly given the potential disruption the loss of the system could cause to supplying the country with basic foods, medicine and other humanitarian shipments .
Iran’s central bank has claimed the SWIFT disconnection will “have no effect on Iran’s bank accounts and its foreign exchange settlements since it is “only an interbank messaging system”. Its governor Abdolnasser Hemmati told reporters that the regulator had made preparations for the disconnection, but did not explain what alternatives to the system would be employed.
8.1.6 Bank news
Iranian port refuses to release Brazilian beef due to banking problems
Iran’s Bandar Abbas port authorities in the southern region of Hormozgan have said they are keeping hold of 5,000 tonnes of frozen Brazilian beef due to payment issues, Fars News Agency reported on February 19.
The failure to release the beef, which has been held in freezer containers for the past four months, is the latest consequence of Iran’s banking problems as well as country’s struggle with the devaluation of the Iranian rial which by 11:00 a.m. GMT on February 19 depreciated to IRR133,500 to the US dollar. This latest hurdle due to the banking problems was announced by Moslem Nasseri, deputy director of the Fresh Produce Association of Iran.
“Despite banks having received payments from importers, they have not been able to deposit the money in the exporters’ account for the past 80 days.”
He added: “We’ve been having problems with [international] money transfers and foreign currency payments for protein products.”
He warned that if not alleviated the problem could spread to other essential imports in the next two to three months.
The issue appears to be intermediary banks unwilling to take payment from Iranian banks for essential products, with recent instances of banks previously working with Iran getting cold feet due to US threats of disconnection.
China’s Kunlun Bank and the Turkish state-owned Halk Bank, which previously handled the bulk of Iran’s international money transfer and foreign currency transactions, stopped providing those services after the new set of US sanctions went into effect in November.
According to some reports including on social media, meat supplies at
31 IRAN Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com