Page 24 - IRANRptJul18

Iran's foreign debt stood at $6.3bn in 2015, down almost 64% compared to the figure in 2011, when sanctions were placed on the country, the World Bank (WB) said in its latest International Debt Statistics 2017 report. Iran’s debt fell substantially thanks to the post-sanctions country being able to access frozen assets in several nations, including the US.
The report said that in 2015 Iran's long-term foreign debt was $2.3bn, its foreign short-term debt was $2.0bn and its debt owed to international financial organisations was also $2.0bn. The ratio of external debt to GDP stood at 1.6% for 2015, down from 2.9% in 2011.
7.0 FX
Iran - FX
Jun-16
Sep-16
Dec-16
Mar-17
Jun-17
Sep-17
Dec-17
Mar-18
Currency (units per EUR) (eop)
34,092
35,339
34,056
34,859
37,057
39,666
43,273
46,522
Currency (units per USD) (eop)
30,700
31,460
32,375
32,422
32,489
33,805
36,064
37,743
Amid tensions Iranian officials release list of companies obtaining lower rial-to-dollar rate
A list of more than 1,500 companies that have officially received the Iranian government’s IRR42,000 to the dollar rate for imports was released on July 1 by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade and the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).
The list was released after the Rouhani administration urged the ministry to publicise the information to quell tensions among the public driven by suspicions that only well-connected companies were the only firms obtaining the fixed lower rate amid the currency collapse sparked in Iran by the unravelling of the nuclear deal and the US decision to attempt to throttle the Iranian economy to force the country to meet certain Middle East policy goals.
The list includes dozens of regular importers and other companies who have switched from their usual imports in the face of new government-ordained trading restrictions to essential commodities such as beans and rice. Some companies which previously imported cars, an activity which was banned in recent days as Iran switches more to a “resistance economy”, are among those who have switched to importing foodstuffs.
The ministry stated: “In light of the importance of this issue, with the aim of [full] transparency and total access to [government] information, and with respect to the president’s letter of intent, the list of goods of companies and individuals receiving and using the official list price of 4,200 Tomans [an unofficial currency category express as 10% of the rial sum] was published.”
In addition to enabling the financing of the listed goods, the CBI has assigned significant amounts of foreign currency to those travelling abroad, including students and medical patients.
Towards the end of June, following protests by mobile phone and electronics importers in downtown Tehran, the telecommunications ministry released a list of importers that received the official rate, revealing those who had obtained imports on the basis of the official IRR42,000 rate to the dollar, rather than the unofficial open market rate which has lately been hitting levels towards IRR90,000.
24 IRAN Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com