Page 38 - IRANRptJul20

CEO of Iran’s Maskan Bank reportedly passes away with coronavirus
business appears to have a level of debt that makes it unattractive to buyers. Other failed sales concern retail bank branches in Tehran and elsewhere. MBI is attempting to squeeze out branches on the high street that are close to one another.
Banks in Iran own IRR1 quadrillion ($23.8bn at the free market rate) in non-core assets earmarked for sale, according to local media reports.
The CEO of Iran’s Maskan Bank, Abolghasem Rahimi Anaraki, has died after contracting the coronavirus (COVID-19), Fars News Agency reported on April 26.
Rahimi Anaraki was CEO of Maskan for several years after spending more than three decades at the bank, known as a mortgage provider. His previous positions at the bank included director of planning and deputy director of organisation.
Many people of note in Iran’s private and government sector have died after becoming ill with the coronavirus in the pandemic.
As of April 27, Iran had logged 91,472 coronavirus cases and the death of 5,806 people who were recorded as COVID-19-positive.
The official picture of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran is not thought to paint the true extent of the COVID-19 health crisis in the country, partly because testing remains limited. There are widely varying accounts of how much worse the reality is perceived to be.
Private sector hospitals are reported to be selling tests at Iranian rial (IRR) 5mn ($31 at the free market rate) each. Moreover, it is widely thought that the results of private tests are not included in the official figures, according to people spoken to ​bne IntelliNews w​ ho offered anecdotal evidence.
8.2 ​Central Bank policy
Iran's central bank updates directive on carrying or retaining foreign currency in cash
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has issued an updated directive dictating the amount of foreign currency in cash that people can retain or carry, LiT reported. ​According to the new directive, individuals can carry up to €10,000 or its equivalent in hard currency. The decree added that a person carrying or keeping more than this value in cash would need to have multiple documents showing they were entitled to do so. The move is the latest in a series of special measures brought in by the Iranian government to manage the free market, with the Iranian rial (IRR) hitting all-time lows against the dollar this week (by 16:30 Tehran time on June 25 it had recovered some ground to stand at IRR192,000 versus the USD, compared to the​ ​weakest ever rate of IRR205,000 seen on June 23​).
The updated central bank rules add that those who have more than €10,000 or its equivalent in hard currency have three months to either deposit their cash in a foreign currency bank account or sell it at an exchange bureau or credit institution. It remains unclear how this method will be policed or if fines will be levied on those who fail to comply.
According to the governor of the CBI, Abdolnaser Hemmati, some $280bn has been injected into the local foreign exchange market in the past 15 years to support the rial.
The regulations for taking hard currency in cash out of Iran have not been changed. There is a limit of €5,000 that applies to those travelling by air, whereas the limit is €2,000 for those travelling by land.
38​ IRAN Country Report July 2020 www.intellinews.com