Iranian Rial

[sandfly]

Wel, let's see what will happen in the next month 

[screwball]

When Zuao Ru Lin, a Beijing entrepreneur, first heard about business opportunities in eastern Iran, he was skeptical. But then he bought a map and began to envision the region without any borders, as one enormous market, reads a New York Times article published on Tuesday. Excerpts follow:

“Many countries are close by, even Europe,” Lin, 49, said while driving his white BMW over the highway connecting Tehran to the eastern Iranian city of Mashhad recently. “Iran is at the center of everything.”

For millenniums, Iran has prospered as a trading hub linking East and West. Now, that role is set to expand in coming years as China unspools its “One Belt, One Road” project, which promises more than $1 trillion in infrastructure investment—bridges, rails, ports and energy—in over 60 countries across Europe, Asia and Africa. Iran, historically a crossroads, is strategically at the center of those plans.

Like pieces of a sprawling geopolitical puzzle, components of China’s infrastructure network are being put in place. In eastern Iran, Chinese workers are busily modernizing one of the country’s major rail routes, standardizing gauge sizes, improving the track bed and rebuilding bridges, with the ultimate goal of connecting Tehran to Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.

Much the same is happening in western Iran, where railroad crews are working to link the capital to Turkey and, eventually, to Europe. Other rail projects will connect Tehran and Mashhad with deepwater ports in the country’s south.

Once dependent on Beijing during the years of international isolation imposed by the West for its nuclear program, Iran is now critical to China’s ability to realize its grandiose ambitions. Other routes to western markets are longer and lead through Russia, potentially a competitor of China.

“It is not as if their project is canceled, if we don’t participate,” said Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan, the Iranian deputy minister of roads and urban development. “But if they want to save time and money, they will choose the shortest route.”

He added with a smile: “There are also political advantages to Iran, compared to Russia. They are highly interested in working with us.”

Others worry that with the large-scale Chinese investment and China’s growing presence in the Iranian economy, Tehran will become more dependent than ever on China, already its biggest trading partner.

China is also an important market for Iranian oil, and because of remaining unilateral American sanctions that intimidate global banks, it is the only source of the large amounts of capital Iran needs to finance critical infrastructure projects. But that, apparently, is a risk the leadership is prepared to take.

 Together Moving Ahead

“China is dominating Iran,” said Mehdi Taqavi, an economics professor at Allameh Tabataba’i University in Tehran, adding that the “Iranian authorities do not see any drawbacks to being dependent on China. Together, we are moving ahead.”

It is not just roads and rail lines that Iran is getting from China. Iran is also becoming an increasingly popular destination for Chinese entrepreneurs like Lin. With a few words of Persian, as well as low-interest loans and tax breaks from the Chinese and Iranian governments, he has built a small empire since moving to Iran in 2002. His eight factories make a wide variety of goods that find markets in Iran and in neighboring countries.

“You can say that I was even more visionary than some of our politicians,” Lin said with a laugh.

Since 2013, when the “One Belt, One Road” plan was started, he has had dozens of visitors from China and multiple meetings with the Chinese ambassador in Tehran.

“I was a pioneer and they want to hear my experiences,” he said.

Lin established his factories along what will be a key part of the trade route—a 575-mile electrified rail line linking Tehran and Mashhad. When completed and attached to the wider network, the new line will enable Lin to export his goods as far as northern Europe, Poland and Russia, at much less cost than today.

“I am expecting a 50% increase in revenue,” Lin said. “Of course, Iran’s economy will also grow. China will expand. Its power will grow.”

“Life is good in Iran,” he said. “The future is good.”

Iranians who spotted Lin driving between his factories waved and smiled. Having mastered a few basic phrases in Persian over the years, he said “hi” and “goodbye” to some of his 2,000 employees. “Iranians are hard workers,” he said.

Even when the boss was out of earshot, workers in his factories said that they were very happy with the Chinese.

“They pay every month on time and only hire people instead of fire,” Amir Dalilian, a guard, said. “If more will come, our economy will flourish.”

When completed, the proposed rail link will stretch nearly 2,000 miles, from Urumqi, the capital of China’s western region of Xinjiang, to Tehran. If all goes according to plan, it will connect Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, China’s state-owned paper, China Daily, wrote.

Track sizes need to be adjusted and new connections made, as well as upgrades to the newest trains.

In a 2016 test, China and Iran drove a train from the port of Shanghai in eastern China to Tehran in just 12 days, a journey that takes 30 days by sea. In Iran, they used the existing track between Tehran and Mashhad, powered by a slower diesel-powered train. When the new line is opened in 2021, it is expected to accommodate electric trains at speeds of up to 125 miles an hour.

 More Than Transportation

Fakhrieh-Kashan, an English speaker who oversees negotiation of most of the larger international state business deals, said the Chinese initiative would do much more than just provide a channel for transporting goods.

“Think infrastructure, city planning, cultural exchanges, commercial agreements, investments and tourism,” he said. “You can pick any project; they are all under this umbrella.”

Business ties between Iran and China have been growing since the United States and its European allies at the time started pressuring Iran over its nuclear program around 2007. China remains the largest buyer of Iranian crude, even after western sanctions were lifted in 2016, allowing Iran to again sell oil in European markets.

Chinese state companies are active all over the country, building highways, digging mines and making steel. Tehran’s shops are flooded with Chinese products and its streets clogged with Chinese cars.

Iran’s leaders hope that the country’s participation in the plan will enable them to piggyback on China’s large economic ambitions.

“The Chinese plan is designed in such a way that it will establish Chinese hegemony across half of the world,” Fakhrieh-Kashan said. “While Iran will put its own interests first, we are creating corridors at the requests of the Chinese. It will give us huge access to new markets.”

[screwball]

 

resident Hassan Rouhani played down a contentious sanctions bill advancing in the US Congress, saying the nuclear deal has weakened the US hand in pushing its policy of sanctions and pressure against the Islamic Republic.

"The Americans' hands have been tied by JCPOA," Rouhani told a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, a day after the US House of Representatives voted to overwhelmingly pass the sanctions measure, IRNA reported.

He was using the formal title of the Iran nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

"The anti-Iran [measure] is in effect a repetition of past sanctions. This shows that America's sanctions weapon has become blunt," he said.

The president reiterated a vow to provide an "appropriate" response to the Congress move.

Rouhani oversaw 18 months of negotiations with major powers, which led to the July 2015 deal.

The action plan was meant to settle over 12 years of standoff with the West over Tehran's nuclear program.

The six powers agreed under the landmark pact to ease sanctions against Iran in return for temporary constraints on its nuclear development.

By a 419-3 vote, the house approved the Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act that would also levy new penalties on Russia and North Korea.

The bill had been bogged down in controversy in recent weeks over objections from the Trump administration.

The White House has been opposed to a provision in the bill that requires congressional approval for any attempt by the president to lift the sanctions on Russia.

An earlier US Senate version of the bill passed 98-2, but was only aimed at Russia and Iran. It did not include the measures against North Korea, which are now in the house bill.

The latest bill must now return to the senate, where it is expected to pass easily, before it is sent to Trump.

Despite the White House's opposition to the bill, it is likely to become law.

Even if Trump decides to veto the legislation, it has already passed both chambers by veto-proof margins, the Guardian reported.

Iran's nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, criticized the new sanctions as being "inconsistent with the JCPOA provisions".

He invoked a JCPOA term that commits all parties to implement it "in good faith and in a constructive atmosphere, based on mutual respect, and to refrain from any action inconsistent with [its] letter, spirit and intent that would undermine its successful implementation".

"The Congress measure runs counter to these commitments and will definitely face a response by the Islamic Republic," Araqchi said.

The Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission would convene an extraordinary meeting shortly to consider an anti-American bill to confront "adventurist and terrorist" US actions in the region, the commission's chairman, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said.

***Provisions of Anti-Iran Bill

The US legislation seeks to punish Iran for its missile development and alleged human rights violations and "conventional and asymmetric … threats in the Middle East and North Africa".

It targets the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps for its support of anti-Israel resistance groups and also imposes an arms embargo.

The bill directs the US president to impose financial sanctions and a travel ban on individuals and entities who "knowingly engage in any activity that materially contributes to the activities of the government of Iran with respect to its ballistic missile program".

It would also commit the US secretary of state to identify individuals responsible for certain human rights abuses within Iran and authorize, but not require, the US president to slap financial sanctions and a travel ban against those designated for human rights abuses.

The measure emphasizes that the entire IRGC, "not just the IRGC's Qods Force", is responsible for allegedly conducting destabilizing activities, supporting terrorism and developing Iran's disputed ballistic missile program, a language that would have the practical effect of designating the IRGC as a foreign terrorist group.

It also commits the US president to impose sanctions on any person who "knowingly engages in any activity that materially contributes to the supply, sale or transfer [of arms] directly or indirectly to or from Iran … [or] knowingly provides to Iran any technical training, financial resources or services, advice, other services or assistance related to the supply, sale, transfer, manufacture, maintenance or use of arms".

[screwball]

Despite repeated verifications by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran is meeting its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, US President Donald Trump issued a veiled threat against Iran on Tuesday, saying Tehran must adhere to the terms of the agreement or else face "big, big problems."

A week after reaffirming that Iran is complying with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated by his democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, Trump made clear to thousands of raucous supporters that he remains extremely wary of Tehran in an effort to deflect attention from his internal disputes and domestic woes.

Trump administration officials, briefing reporters last week, said new economic sanctions against Iran were being prepared over its ballistic missile program and for allegedly contributing to regional tensions, Reuters reported. Trump devoted part of his speech in Youngstown, Ohio, to Iran.

"If that deal doesn't conform to what it's supposed to conform to, it's going to be big, big problems for them. That I can tell you. Believe me," he said.

"You would have thought they would have said 'thank you United States. We really love you very much.' Instead, they've become emboldened. That won't take place much longer."

Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday he would be surprised if Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal when recertification comes up again in three months.

"We'll talk about the subject in 90 days but I would be surprised if they were in compliance," he told the Journal in an interview.

[screwball]

Central Iranian: the application of the replacement of the currency "riyal" by "Altuman" after the approval of Parliament


26/07/2017


The replacement of the riyal with the 10-riyals of the Toman will be implemented immediately after the approval of the bill by the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament), the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBE) said.

Saif said on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting on Wednesday that no new notes were to be printed in the first phase of the law's implementation.

http://aletejahtv.org/permalink/174318.html

[screwball]

Nothing to see here move on...

[gregp]

1 hour ago, screwball said:

Nothing to see here move on...

 

Toman will be implemented immediately after the approval of the bill by the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament)

 

i like it. Thanks for all your posts Screwball. 

[climber7]

1 hour ago, screwball said:

Central Iranian: the application of the replacement of the currency "riyal" by "Altuman" after the approval of Parliament


26/07/2017


The replacement of the riyal with the 10-riyals of the Toman will be implemented immediately after the approval of the bill by the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament), the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBE) said.

Saif said on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting on Wednesday that no new notes were to be printed in the first phase of the law's implementation.

http://aletejahtv.org/permalink/174318.html

 

1 hour ago, screwball said:

Nothing to see here move on...

 

11 minutes ago, gregp said:

i like it

 

 

Could someone please address the question I've asked twice regarding what SPECIFICALLY happens to our rials when they switch to the toman? 

 

Does the switch to the new currency leave us screwed with worthless paper money no longer recognized? Will we be able to switch our rials for tomans?  What will be THAT exchange rate and will we be able to make money on it? 

 

Thanks and much appreciated 

[sandfly]

it depends on how they put it in the bill when they wright it. we can make money on it, are lose, and then we have a time line too trade it for the new one

[gregp]

1 hour ago, climber7 said:

 

 

 

 

Could someone please address the question I've asked twice regarding what SPECIFICALLY happens to our rials when they switch to the toman? 

 

Best to keep an eye on the CBI. They will post any currency changes. Iran keeps up with their announcements. 

[pokerplayer]

3 hours ago, climber7 said:

 

 

 

 

Could someone please address the question I've asked twice regarding what SPECIFICALLY happens to our rials when they switch to the toman? 

 

Does the switch to the new currency leave us screwed with worthless paper money no longer recognized? Will we be able to switch our rials for tomans?  What will be THAT exchange rate and will we be able to make money on it? 

 

Thanks and much appreciated 

 

 

Not sure climber7 but will take a stab at it. I asked a neighbour that is from Iran ( Been in Canada 20+ years ) his take is they more than likely will run in tandum for 1-2 years. As the current Riel enters the banking system they will be removed from circulation.Once they feel that the majority of the current Riel supply is close to drying up a final notice will go out letting people know that by a certain date they will cease to be negotiable.

 

This is conjecture on his part but he feels confident knowing his former Gov't as he doe's that this is close to what would probably happen.

 

Hope this helps.

 

pp

[gregp]

12 minutes ago, pokerplayer said:

 

 

Not sure climber7 but will take a stab at it. I asked a neighbour that is from Iran ( Been in Canada 20+ years ) his take is they more than likely will run in tandum for 1-2 years. As the current Riel enters the banking system they will be removed from circulation.Once they feel that the majority of the current Riel supply is close to drying up a final notice will go out letting people know that by a certain date they will cease to be negotiable.

 

This is conjecture on his part but he feels confident knowing his former Gov't as he doe's that this is close to what would probably happen.

 

Hope this helps.

 

pp

 

Wonderful answer. 

Thank you.  

👍👍👍

[sandfly]

the worse thing they can do, is follow turkey. that's what i'm looking at

[blueskyline]

Iran did all they could to keep the rial from leaving the country during the sanctions . I think a single rate currency with a raised value is in their future. Call it Toman or Rial ...Shoot . The Rial might very well be Iraqs version of three zero notes and The Toman might be Iraqs version of lower demons but to exist together for a time  ????

[Freedomwish]

15 hours ago, pokerplayer said:

 

 

Not sure climber7 but will take a stab at it. I asked a neighbour that is from Iran ( Been in Canada 20+ years ) his take is they more than likely will run in tandum for 1-2 years. As the current Riel enters the banking system they will be removed from circulation.Once they feel that the majority of the current Riel supply is close to drying up a final notice will go out letting people know that by a certain date they will cease to be negotiable.

 

This is conjecture on his part but he feels confident knowing his former Gov't as he doe's that this is close to what would probably happen.

 

Hope this helps.

 

pp

 

Holy cow....it might be just me, but Iraq has long planned in doing somewhat the same with their dinar?  Once the dinar RV's the collection process is to take place for about 2 years or so in removal to the old notes to circulate the new ones.......I can't just shake off the feeling, that both Rial and Dinar may pop at the same time.....too, too similar in planning...keeping the faith!! 

[screwball]

Economy, Business And Markets

Thursday, July 27, 2017

EDBI Post-Sanctions Correspondent Ties Hit 120

 

The Export Development Bank of Iran, the country’s exim bank, established a total of 120 correspondent relations with foreign banks in the previous fiscal year to March 20, 2017, the bank’s chief executive said.

“In Europe, we are now in contact with 70 banks from 24 countries while such relations were non-existent when sanctions were in place,” Ali Salehabadi was also quoted as saying by the official news website of EDBI.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers is officially known, came into effect in January 2016 and allowed Iranian lenders to come out of the cold and resume ties with their international counterparts.

In Asia, 41 banks from 19 countries have resumed correspondent relations with EDBI while in Africa, 10 banks from nine countries have restored such ties.

“The export development bank has the largest number of correspondent relations with banks of Italy, Russia and Germany,” Salehabadi said.

According to the chief executive, during the fiscal 2015-16, the bank had issued 450 counts of guarantees while the number rose to 803 in the previous fiscal year.

The bank had issued a total of 22 foreign exchange guarantees in the same year, which more than doubled to reach 46 last year.

However, foreign exchange guarantees grew much more in terms of value. In 2015-16, the total worth of foreign exchange guarantees stood at $6 million while it experienced a 542% increase to reach $38.50 million.

“In the case of rial guarantees, we registered a 76% rise in terms of value and a 78% increase in terms of numbers,” Salehabadi added, noting that by the end of the fiscal 2015-16, the bank had issued 1.074 trillion rials ($28.6 million) worth of rials guarantees but managed to boost it to 2.253 trillion rials ($60 million) in the year after that.

The CEO also provided statistics on the letters of credit issued by EDBI, putting their total worth two years ago at 860 billion rials ($23 million) and at 3.061 trillion rials ($81.6 million) during the previous fiscal year, indicating a 255% increase.

However, in the case of import LCs, the export development bank has experienced a decline, as the value of LCs stood at $2.160 billion while it has now shrunk to $858 million.

Salehabadi said the reason for this decrease is that in 2015-16, EDBI was handling a portion of LCs for projects in the Bushehr Province, which entailed high volumes.

“We witnessed the same situation in the exports sector where our LCs plummeted from $618 million to $84 million,” he added.

He then pointed to the release of blocked Iranian assets in 32 international banks and the lower cost of foreign operations as other benefits of the nuclear accord, but pointed out that major banks are still not working with their Iranian counterparts.

For instance, he added, Deutsche Bank has very limited ties with EDBI, but the situation indicates an improvement compared with the time when the sanctions were in place.

 Absence of Resources

Salehabadi announced that in the previous fiscal year, his bank has absorbed a total of 8 trillion rials ($213.3 million) from the resources of the National Development Fund of Iran.

In a meeting held on Tuesday in the Kermanshah Chamber of Commerce, the official noted that EDBI has one of the lowest number of branches among all Iranian lenders with just 40 branches in provincial centers and free trade zones.

The CEO further said, “We are the only bank whose deposit rates do not exceed 15% and therefore we do not have much power to absorb people’s deposits.”

The bank can only get capital from three other sources. It can rely on the government to raise its capital, look to the Central Bank of Iran for a line of credit and expect support from the national development fund.

According to Salehabadi, it has been nearly a decade since an administration increased the capital of EDBI while the bank has paid out 1.7 trillion rials ($45.3 million) in loans last year and is looking for new ways of boosting its finances.

The EDBI chief said facilitating export is the foremost goal of his bank but also has to pursue profitability in some small capacity because it does not wish to suffer losses.

In conclusion, he said an €18 million line of credit is to be opened with the Iraqi Al Bilad Islamic Bank for Investment and Finance.

Salehabadi had previously talked about the credit line without naming the Iraqi lender, saying the credit line will expand Iran’s exports to the neighboring Arab country and that EDBI is ready to allocate more lines of credit to that country if other Iraqi banks meet the capital adequacy ratio.  

[screwball]

6 hours ago, blueskyline said:

Iran did all they could to keep the rial from leaving the country during the sanctions . I think a single rate currency with a raised value is in their future. Call it Toman or Rial ...Shoot . The Rial might very well be Iraqs version of three zero notes and The Toman might be Iraqs version of lower demons but to exist together for a time  ????

 

Lower denoms 

 

Monday, March 06, 2017

CBI: Smaller Banknotes Coming 

 

T

he Central Bank of Iran plans to print banknotes in smaller sizes, the director of CBI’s Office for Banknote Issuance said.

“CBI is also working on new designs for 50,000-rial and 100,000-rial banknotes,” Fars News Agency also quoted Masoud Rahimi as saying on Saturday.

The central bank last week unveiled a new version of 10,000-rial banknotes, which is smaller than the current notes, during President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to the bank.

The central banker also said that printing expenses has declined by 50% during the current Iranian year (ends March 20), due to CBI’s measures to promote electronic banking services in recent years.

Majlis on Saturday permitted CBI to issue new traveler checks for the next Iranian year.

smaller? Yeah baby

 

Edited July 28, 2017 by screwball

[screwball]

7 hours ago, sandfly said:

the worse thing they can do, is follow turkey. that's what i'm looking at

 

Didnt turkey lop?

[sandfly]

no turkey, changed all there money. and the day they put it on the market,  any body had the old money got it up there a%%. even there own people got it up there a%%.

[screwball]

10:1 and rate of .40 or even 1:1 we are all happy slight greater than 1 usd worst case..best case we get over 1,20 for every rial..that's what I am looking for..

[gregp]

14 hours ago, sandfly said:

no turkey, changed all there money. and the day they put it on the market,  any body had the old money got it up there a%%. even there own people got it up there a%%.

 

What did they do to the poor old turkey!??  %%

[sandfly]

sb, i don't see it. the best they had i think is.78 in the past.   

[screwball]

4 hours ago, sandfly said:

sb, i don't see it. the best they had i think is.78 in the past.   

That will do...lol

[screwball]

Old article but thought I would repost to confuse you...

 

https://parsikhabar.net/finance/irans-new-currency-may-be-named-parsi/3263/

[screwball]

Think imf....Asia....emerging economy....Indonesia rupiah definitely worth a look at after dinar and rial...https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-19/indonesia-s-central-bank-revives-plan-to-redenominate-rupiah

 

they have oil and gas and are one of the fasting growing economies in Asia