Page 20 - IRANRptAug19

Iran to open border market on Turkmenistan frontier
The Iranian government is set to open a border market located on the Turkmenistan frontier in North Khorasan province, Otagh News reported on June 25.
Iran continues to relax border crossings with its northern neighbours as part of its push to clear obstacles to trade in line with the start of Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) free trade zone agreed with Tehran. The deal with the Moscow-led bloc reduces tariffs on several thousand goods heading in both directions.
“A border market will soon open in North Khorasan Province that will benefit locals,” Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Reza Rahmani, reportedly said while addressing a meeting with provincial authorities and lawmakers on June 25.
North Khorasan shares a 300-kilometre border with Turkmenistan. However, there isn’t yet a single market along the border line and trade between Iran and Turkmenistan has been rather limited in recent years.
Iran exported over 735,000 tonnes of commodities worth over $400mn to Turkmenistan during the 2018/2019 Persian year (ended 20 March), according to figures from the Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) released last month. The customs data show year on year declines of 4.3% and 16.5% in value and weight, respectively. Iran’s imports from Turkmenistan decreased by 28.7% in value and by over 45% in weight during the same period.
5.1.3 Gross international reserves
Iran’s gold Imami sovereign breaks IRR25mn barrier amid dwindling hard currency supplies
CBI has over €70bn in hard currency reserves
Iran’s gold sovereign of choice, the Imami, has again broken the IRR25mn barrier as buyers continue to purchase remaining stocks of the officially minted 18-carat coin, IBENA reported on June 18.
Iranians’ attraction to gold as a safe haven has intensified with hard currency supplies dwindling in Iran following legal changes suddenly brought in in early April to arrest the stark descent of the Iranian rial (IRR), hit by souring sentiment over Iran’s economic prospects in the face of hostility from the US Trump administration. The move banned open market trading of foreign exchange and made unofficial rates illegal.
In early May, a World Gold Council report said that gold coin and bar demand in Iran shot up to a three-year high of 9.3 tonnes in the first quarter as Iranians —correctly—anticipated that the consequences of deteriorating relations with the US would cause Tehran to introduce currency controls.
The Azadi gold coin, the former number one sovereign sold by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), also reached a historic high on June 18, topping IRR24mn a coin, while smaller half-sovereigns increased in price accordingly.
According to the IMF in its Regional Economic Outlook on May 4, the value of Iran’s gross official reserves will reach $108.4bn in 2018. The country’s gross official reserves will experience a $13.3bn jump in the current year rising from last year’s $95.1bn.
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has more than €70bn in hard currency reserves, according to the National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI). However, as restrictions continue on trade and withdrawal of cash from forex reserves, the country is looking for ways to find new revenues of hard currency.
20 IRAN Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com