Iranian Rial

[screwball]

decision by US President Donald Trump to back out of the Iranian nuclear agreement could derail billions of dollars in western investments heading toward Iran and trigger European economic retaliation against US businesses, analysts say.

“It signals the breakdown of consensus between the US and its European allies,” Hassan Hakimian, director of the London Middle East Institute, said.

Trump is expected to announce his decision this week to decline to certify the nuclear deal. The 2015 agreement, signed by his predecessor Barack Obama, along with Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, lifts international sanctions on Iran in return for a long-term suspension of its nuclear development program.

Since the deal was signed, European countries have “been lining up like mad” to trade with Iran, Hakimian was quoted as saying by USA Today.

If the United States takes action that slows the investment pouring into Iran, European governments would antagonize US allies who could retaliate with trade restrictions against American firms.

European governments have urged the United States to stand by the agreement. And Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi on Tuesday criticized Washington’s recent “delusionary negative postures” and hoped the deal would not fall apart.

“Much more is at stake for the entire international community than the national interests of Iran,” he said, adding that he didn’t want the agreement to fall apart.

A decision to decertify won’t mean an immediate end to the agreement, which Trump has called the “worst deal ever.” The US Congress would have 60 days to reimpose sanctions, but analysts say such a vote is unlikely, effectively leaving the agreement in place.

Decertifying means the US believes Iran is not complying with the nuclear agreement, even though there’s no evidence of that, or that the deal is not in the national interest.

Trump has signaled he will back out of the accord before an Oct. 15 deadline for certifying that Iran is complying with the terms, which United Nations inspectors say is the case.

“Decertification will be seen as a warning shot that their [Europeans] investment may come under fire from sanctions,” said Richard Nephew, an analyst at the Center on Global Energy Policy and a former State Department official.

If the deal is saved by the US Congress, Trump’s next opportunity to scuttle the deal will be in January, the next deadline for waivers that have to be issued every 120 days to prevent old sanctions from being reimposed, according to a US domestic stipulation.

US companies have not benefited much from the lifting of sanctions, since the US trade embargo remains in effect. Most of what was lifted were “secondary sanctions” to penalize non-US companies who did business with Iran.

One major exception is Boeing, which has agreements worth about $19 billion to sell aircraft to Iran. The US did lift some primary sanctions for the aviation industry.

But European countries have flooded Iran with trade delegations eager to get a chunk of a potentially lucrative market.

 “It could put European businesses on a collision with the Treasury Department, if sanctions are reimposed,” Hakimian said.

In response to a possible decertification, European nations may look for ways to retaliate against American firms.

“Even the conversation [about decertification] is going to make things really hard if you are a US business operating in Europe,” Nephew said.

EU Ambassador to the United States David O’Sullivan said last month that if the US pulls out of the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and reapplies sanctions that target not only Iran, but other countries doing business with Iran, the European Union could take advantage of a statute dating back to the mid-1990s that would protect European companies from being penalized under the sanctions.

Speaking at the Atlantic Center alongside French, British and German ambassadors, Sullivan said, “We have the blocking statute ... which does offer legal protection to European companies which are threatened by the extraterritorial nature of US sanctions in certain circumstances.

“I have no doubt that if this scenario materializes, which it’s not clear it will, the European Union will act to protect the legitimate interests of our companies with all the means at our disposal.”

Because Washington has virtually no trade relations with Tehran, US sanctions against Iran are not an effective nuclear deterrent unless other countries join the effort. In the years leading up to the 2015 nuclear deal, European countries, as well as China and Russia, cooperated with US-led efforts to choke off Iran’s economy in hopes of persuading Iran to negotiate restrictions on its nuclear program.  But now that Iran has scaled back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, the countries that helped negotiate JCPOA see no reason to cut off trade with Tehran again, Huffington Post reported.

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Official: Iran developing good banking ties with other states

Ankara, Oct 10, IRNA – Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said that after implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran's banking relations with world countries have considerably improved.

Talking to IRNA in Ankara, Seif said that despite appropriate opening in Iran's banking relations abroad, a number of banks act cautiously.

'The JCPOA has had its influence and made some openings in the banking domain as well as oilfield and our oil exports have doubled, indicating impact of the JCPOA,' he added. 

'To explain positive effects of the JCPOA, one should not go into extremes and it should not be underestimated.'

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[Freedomwish]

12 hours ago, screwball said:

A decision to decertify won’t mean an immediate end to the agreement, which Trump has called the “worst deal ever.” The US Congress would have 60 days to reimpose sanctions, but analysts say such a vote is unlikely, effectively leaving the agreement in place.

Decertifying means the US believes Iran is not complying with the nuclear agreement, even though there’s no evidence of that, or that the deal is not in the national interest.

 

Ok, ok, ok.....still ongoing, but we will see.....

[screwball]

Bank Maskan–as the agent lender of the housing industry–plans to fund the construction of 1.3 million houses in the next four years.

Announcing the above, Bank Maskan CEO Mohammad Hashem Botshekan said the funding will come through a variety of instruments, including home loans, special funds and bond issuance.  

The Ministry of Roads and Urban Development has, through Bank Maskan, tapped mortgage-backed securities and real-estate funds in the past couple of years, as it sought new means of financing to salvage the beleaguered housing sector.

“The rate of mortgage loans to all loans allocated by commercial banks stood at 12.2% in 2013, whereby it followed a declining trajectory in the years  to reach 9% last year and 7.4% in the first five months of the current year,” Botshekan told the 17th Conference on Housing Development Policies held in Tehran on October 10-11.

“This indicates that the banking system is not moving in the same direction as the housing sector,” he added.

But while the Bank Maskan chief was less than satisfied with the fact that his bank continuously has to shoulder the cumbersome weight of financing the sector that is lately showing signs of emerging out of a five-year quagmire, he was mindful of the fact that other bank managers are not enthusiastic about 12-year repayment periods on mortgage loans.

The Central Bank of Iran expanded the mandates of commercial lenders to dole out mortgage facilities about two years ago, but they have largely refrained from doing so.

Botshekan sought to outline the positive measures taken by Bank Maskan, the most prominent of which has been the successful Housing Savings Account which, according to him, has led to an eightfold increase in the purchasing power of people, as 282,000 applicants have so far made deposits.

The scheme requires first-time homebuyers to put down a deposit and wait for a year to become eligible for long-term low-interest loan that currently provides 50% of an average 75-meter residential unit’s value, a share Botshekan aims to increase.

While Bank Maskan has also established land and building funds, it has engaged in structural reforms such as improving its balance sheets and devising a four-year plan.

According to Botshekan, President Hassan Rouhani has clarified the bank’s priorities, namely overhauling investment in distressed areas, focusing on first-time homebuyers and young couples, achieving higher investments in rural housing and developing sustained instruments to finance the housing sector.

As to the schemes that are yet to be launched, Bank Maskan’s chief executive referred to capital buffer programs by the economy and roads ministries, a longstanding plan to turn the bank into a development bank and publish mortgage-backed securities and foreign exchange bonds.

In a nod to World Habitat Day and in light of the fact that housing costs constitute 35% of Iranian households’ expenses, Botshekan emphasized the importance of focusing on affordable housing in its policymaking, saying the people can bank on services provided by the lender at single-digit interest rates and decade-long repayment periods.

 Neighborhood Makeover

Local governments i.e. municipalities and the national government, through the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and the Interior Ministry, will enter 270 neighborhoods a year to renovate them and improve their quality of life to meet the national standards, the caretaker of  the Urban Development and Revitalization Organization announced.

“While renovating each neighborhood will take about 10 to 12 years, the host of entities will work to revitalize 2,700 neighborhoods by the end of the Seventh Five-Year Development Plan [2023-28],” Houshang Ashayeri also said on the second and last day of the conference on Wednesday.

According to the official, half this volume will undergo renovation by the end of the current development plan (2022) and “according to estimates, renovating these worn-out neighborhoods will cost more than 1 quadrillion rials ($24.9 billion)”.

But as noted by Ashayeri, the failed experience of Mehr Housing Project, which saw the former administration finance major building efforts, has prompted officials to provide incentives for owners in distressed areas and mass builders to join hands to gradually rebuild the neighborhoods.

Hossein Abdoh-Tabrizi, adviser to Roads Minister Abbas Akhoundi, also spoke at the event, saying the 193-fold increase in land prices from 1991 to 2014 has created an unprecedented bubble in property assets.

This is especially detrimental for national interests, as “sometimes we need to allocate 80% of a rail project’s costs to buy lands to implement it”.

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https://www.rt.com/document/59dca641fc7e93194b8b4567/amp/406251-iran-turkey-trade-currencies...Iran & Turkey agree to use national currencies in trade to cut dependence on euro and dollar....

© Morteza Nikoubazl / Reuters

An agreement on using local currencies in trade has been inked between the central banks of Iran and Turkey. The aim is to improve economic links and make bilateral trade easier.

 

Under the deal, the Iranian rial and Turkish lira will be easily converted to help reduce the costs of currency conversion and transfer for traders.

Banks in the two countries will also be able to use international payment tools to convert currencies into rials and liras.

The preliminary agreement was signed during last week’s visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Tehran.

“We have made very important decisions to strengthen and expand economic relations, including the use of our national currencies in trade,”said Iranian President Hasan Rohani after meeting his Turkish counterpart.

The leaders of the two countries have agreed to boost bilateral trade which currently stands at around $10 billion.

According to the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Valiollah Seif, there’s “potential to boost Iran-Turkey trade to $30 billion,” but some barriers should be removed.

READ MORE: Turkish & Iranian leaders unite against Kurdish referendum, accuse Mossad of meddling

"One important barrier was the limitations in banking channels of the two countries. The agreement to trade in local currencies can help remove it," Seif was cited as saying by the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Ankara and Tehran have also focused on expanding cooperation in finance, opening bank branches in both countries.

 

Published time: 10 Oct 2017 | 14:20 GMT

 

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Iranian bank in Paris connected to EU interbank system

Tehran, Oct 15, IRNA – The Paris branch of Bank Melli Iran, has been connected to 'TARGET 2' the Euro interbank payment system, said a member of the board of managers of the Iranian bank on Sunday.

Gholam-Reza Panahi said that the Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross Settlement Express Transfer System (TARGET2) is an interbank payment system for the real-time cross-border transfers throughout the European Union.

Before implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), establishing such connections were not possible.

Prior to the JCPOA, bank transactions in Paris used to be carried out through brokerage financial firms in the country, Panahi said.  

'Now the branch of the Bank Melli Iran in Paris is ready to provide its customers with services across Europe,' he added.

The Persia International Bank PLC in London and the Sepah Bank branch in Frankfurt have already gotten connected to the TARGET 2 interbank payment system.

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[screwball]

Paris would be nice..

[screwball]

Iran, Russia ink financing MoU

Tehran, Oct 16, IRNA – Central Bank of Iran (CBA) and the Export Insurance Agency of Russia (EXIAR) signed a financing memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Sunday.

The MoU was signed in a meeting between Deputy CBI for currency affairs Ahmad Araqchi and Managing Director of EXIAR Alexey Tyupanov in Moscow

Araqchi expressed pleasure over expansion of ties between the two countries, calling for speeding up financing projects of each other.

He further noted that the negotiations on financing bore fruit and cooperation would hopefully continue.

Tyupanov, for his part, welcomed successful talks on outlines of the financing deal, expressing hope that various projects of the private and state-run sectors would be able to use financing facilities of Russian banks, which will prepare the ground for further enhancement of economic ties between the two countries.

During the meeting, both sides agreed on the outlines of a deal between the Iranian and Russian banks, which will allow the Iranian banks to receive finance from Russian banks for the projects which have obtained needed permissions in Iran.

The financing deal will soon be signed and implemented by the Iranian and Russian banks.

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[screwball]

Iran, Italy to sign banking credit line deal soon

Tehran, Oct 14, IRNA – Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Masoud Karbasian said in Washington on Saturday that Iran-Italy agreement for opening banking credit line will be inked in the near future.

Karbasian, who is in Washington to attend the 2017 Annual joint meeting of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF), made the remarks in a meeting with his Italian counterpart Pier Carlo Padoan.

The Iranian minister also emphasized the need for expanding economic relations between the two countries.

He added previously several negotiations have been held between Tehran and Rome for opening a credit line in a bid to pave the way for optimal banking and economic ties between the two countries.

The Iranian minister said the level of mutual trade transactions has seen a three-fold increase in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2017).

Karbasian also voiced Iran's willingness to cooperate with Italy in steel industry as well as transportation arenas. 

Padoan, for his part, said Italy is entirely determined to expand all-out ties with Iran in different arenas. 

He added the Italian companies are fully ready to cooperate with the Iranian side.

The Italian minister stressed that the financial cooperation would pave the ground for technical cooperation between the two nations.

Karbasian, heading a delegation, arrived in Washington on Friday to attend the World Bank's autumn summit to be held in Washington on October 13-15.

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[screwball]

Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Masoud Karbasian has separately met his counterparts from France, Denmark, India and Afghanistan as part of his trip to Washington, DC to attend the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Karbasian conferred with Bruno Le Maire, the recently-appointed French economy minister, who stressed the importance of sticking to the multilateral nuclear deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Noting that he is familiar with Iran as he has made several visits there in the past, the French minister emphasized that the administration of President Emmanuel Macron is intent on bolstering ties with the country, the Economy Ministry's official news portal reported.

Karbasian is in Washington as part of a high-ranking delegation, which also includes the Central Bank of Iran Governor Valiollah Seif, to participate in the annual WB/IMF meetings running through Oct. 13-15.

Le Maire commended Iran's efforts in promoting financial transparency and the amplified supervision implemented on the banking system, calling for implementing international standards that will be key to nurturing further financial interactions with the world, including France.

Karbasian pointed out that Iran-France trade has been on the rise, adding that Iran is ready to work with the leading European nation in various fields.

The minister then sought to outline economic progress achieved by Iran, and referring to the significance of banking ties with France, hailed the correspondent banking ties that have already been reestablished and welcomed future finance coming from the western European nation.

In late September, it was announced that Bpifrance, France's state investment bank—which has no operations in the US and therefore is not exposed to possible fines for American sanctions breaches—will finance projects of French companies in Iran from 2018, granting up to €500 million ($592 million) in annual credits.

Boosting Financial Ties with Denmark

Accompanied by Mohammad Khazaei, director of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance (OIETA), Karbasian spoke with Denmark's Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla T?rn?s to discuss ways of expanding bilateral relations and doing what is necessary to increase Danish credit lines for Iran.

Pointing to the extroverted and constructive approach of the Danish government, the Scandinavian minister said expansion of economic ties would be mutually beneficial and can be realized in the fields of energy, environment, infrastructure and management of water resources.

She also referred to agreements reached between Iran and Eksport Kredit Fonden, Denmark's Exim bank, calling it a good platform upon which future collaborations can be built.

On Sept. 22, shortly after Denmark's Danske Bank finalized a foreign finance agreement worth €500 million ($590 million) for Iran, EKF reached an agreement with OIETA.

In his meeting with T?rn?s, Karbasian said that in light of Iran's strategic standing in the Middle East, economic and financial cooperation with Denmark could also lead to better ties with other nations in the region.

Bolstering Relations with India, Afghanistan

The Iranian economy minister also sat down with Arun Jaitley, his Indian counterpart, saying Tehran is ready to host Iran-India Economic Commission in early 2018 since the ministry he leads is in charge of the commission.

He elaborated on Iran's recent economic achievements, adding that employing the $450 million Indian line of credit to develop Chabahar Port and other joint ventures in railroads will help expand bilateral relations.

Resolving some financial issues and divesting certain projects to India "as an old, friendly and willing nation" were referred to as other signs of better India-Iran prospects by the official.

Jaitley reportedly welcomed the progress made in bettering Iran-India ties, while the two ministers also spoke about resolving banking issues as an important talking point.

In his discussions with Abdul Sattar Murad, the Afghan minister of economy, Karbasian stressed the importance of role played by the two neighbors in removing economic hurdles and the necessity of boosting ties.

Noting that hundreds of thousands of Afghan citizens currently reside in Iran, Karbasian sought to outline measures undertaken by Iran to assist them, especially those in the field of education for children and organizing trade deals by improving customs relations.

Both ministers also emphasized the importance of continuing bilateral cooperation in implementing railroad projects.

In conclusion, Karbasian pledged Iran's assistance to support Afghanistan to obtain loans from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

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Economy, Business And Markets

Monday, October 16, 2017

BMI’s Paris Branch Joins Target 2

 

After months of following up the issue, Bank Melli Iran’s Paris branch has been connected to Target 2, the European interbank payment network, a board member of the bank said on Sunday. Gholamreza Panahi added that Target 2, which is operated by Eurosystem, comprises European Central Bank and central banks of EU member countries through which European banks can transfer money to each other instantaneously.  “Before the nuclear sanctions, BMI’s Paris branch was able to use the system via a correspondent bank to transfer money but now the bank enjoys direct access to Target 2,” he said. Panahi emphasized that the branch is ready to offer banking services to customers across Europe.

[screwball]

TARGET2 is the RTGS system for the euro, offered by the Eurosystem. It is used for the settlement of central bank operations, large-value euro interbank transfers as well as other euro payments. It provides real-time processing, settlement in central bank money and immediate finality. 

[screwball]

Iran Mercantile Exchange launches Arabic website

News ID: 4115413 - Mon 16 October 2017 - 11:52

Economy

TEHRAN, Oct. 16 (MNA) – In line with one of the IME’s main strategies as ‘Developing IME’s activities to enhance the country's trading with international markets’, IME launched its Arabic Website in a conference on trade between Iran and Iraq.

According to the report by the IME’s International Affairs and PR, the more active presence of Iran in the strategic and valuable market of Iraq has always been one of the most important issues among our public and private sector managers. In this regard, benefiting from exchanging various metals and mineral products, oil and petrochemicals, as well as agricultural products in domestic and export markets, IME has carried out its research into developing trade relations and using the capacity of financial markets to increase the trade volume and facilitation of the export of Iranian goods to Iraq.

In this regard, setting up a taskforce on IME to increase Iran's exports to Iraq, presence of a high-ranking delegation from IME to Iraq to investigate solutions to strengthen economic ties between the two countries, holding a meeting session between IME and Iran & Iraq Chamber of Commerce and negotiating with Iraqi officials to develop economic relations between the two countries using IME’s capacities are some of the recent measures taken by the IME.

Following on these events, today, as part of the conference on trade between Iran and Iraq, the largest gathering of economic activists and businessmen from the two countries, the Arabic website of IME was launched to provide services to Arab merchants and businessmen.

 The Arabic website of IME, at http://ar.ime.co.ir, describes Iran Mercantile Exchange, its strategy, goals and services, and includes sections such as business calendar, commodity list, listing requirements, registration of the customers and steps to issue trading accounts, introducing active brokers, contracts and trading markets including the physical market, derivatives market, and side markets, as well as the news of this area.

 

[screwball]

Iran talks with Europe to open lines of credit 

News ID: 4114410 - Sun 15 October 2017 - 14:11

Economy

TEHRAN, Oct. 15 (MNA) – Pointing to CBI’s talks with several European and Asian countries to open lines of credit, Deputy Economy Minister said it is expected that finalizing these talks could increase foreign investments. 

Mohammad Khazaee, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance said Sunday, that these programs are adopted by high ranking delegation of investment and a license has been issued as well.

Some of our negotiations with foreign delegations have led to sealing of final contracts, investments and financial agreements.

The deputy minister stated that South Korean line of credit with a worth of 8 billion dollars, was among the first agreements which were finalized. Both the private and public sectors could employ the finance to execute their plans.

In addition, Khazaee mentioned an investment agreement for a 10 billion dollar line of credit with a Chinese financial institute, noting that “over the past three weeks, a contract of 1 billion euro was finalized with the biggest Austrian bank as well as an extendable line of credit with Denmark’s Dankse Bank valued at 500 million euros.”

The head of Organization for Investment further pointed to financial deals with Russia, a part of which will fund the project for building a power plant in the southern part of the country.

As stated by Khazaee, Central Banks of Iran is currently in talks with three European and Asian countries, which will hopefully increase foreign investments.

So far, foreign investment in Iran amounts to 14 billion dollars, the Iranian official said. He further added that if the bureaucratic rules are reduced and business atmosphere is improved, they could accelerate utilizing the newly injected financial resources which will be allotted to fund infrastructure projects.

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Iran, Russia sign financing agreement

News ID: 4115259 - Mon 16 October 2017 - 10:11

Economy

TEHRAN, Oct. 16 (MNA) – A financing agreement has been signed on Sun. between the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and Export Insurance Agency of Russia (EXIAR).

In a meeting with EXIAR’s CEO Alexey Tyupanov, CBI's vice-governor for foreign exchange affairs, Ahmad Araghchi, called for expediting the process of financing joint projects between Iran and Russia, and expressed satisfaction with the positive conclusion of talks on finance agreements.

EXIAR’s CEO Alexey Tyupanov, for his part, expressed hope that various projects of Iran’s private and public sectors would soon be able to be financed by Russian banks, leading to further expansion of economic ties between the two countries.

During the meeting, the two sides reached an agreement on the general outlines of the conditions for finance, under which Iranian banks can receive financing from Russian banks for projects that have obtained domestic licenses. The finance to be received from Russian banks will be used in both private and public sectors and in various industries whose projects have been prioritized by relevant executive bodies.

Following the signing of this MoU, the general financing agreement will soon be signed and implemented between Russian and Iranian banks. 

 

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Iran's economy min. heads for Washington DC to attend World Bank Summit

News ID: 4112047 - Thu 12 October 2017 - 15:24

Economy

TEHRAN, Oct. 12 (MNA) – Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Masoud Karbasian headed for Washington DC to attend 2017 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.

This morning, on Thursday, Karbasian went to Washington DC to attend the World Bank summit and to meet with top banking officials.

On the sidelines of the summit, bilateral meetings with ministers and economic officials from several countries, the vice chairman and managers of the World Bank Group, the head of the International Monetary Fund and the heads of the Central Bank are among the programs that are on the agenda of Iran's economy minister.

The World Bank's autumn summit will be held in Washington DC on October 13-15. The Islamic Republic of Iran is also the eighteenth member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

[pokerplayer]

The day we all wish to see I believe is just around the corner !!

 

  Great posting all, just wish I had something to contribute to the thread.

 

   pp

[markb57]

please let it happen for us all.....

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Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Masoud Karbasian met with top-ranking officials of the Islamic Development Bank as well as his counterpart from Malaysia.

Karbasian met them on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund held during Oct. 13-15 in Washington, DC.

Leading a high-ranking delegation, which also includes the Central Bank of Iran Governor Valiollah Seif, the minister conferred with Bandar M.H. Hajjar, president of IDB Group, the Economy Ministry's official news portal reported.

In the meeting, also attended by Mohammad Khazaei, director of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran, and several "relevant and high-ranking regional executives", the IDB chief referred to good Iran-IDB cooperation in the past and the present.

"The IDB will strive to continue its cooperation with member states, regardless of any and all political and other considerations," Hajjar added.

In the present membership of the bank, which consists of 57 countries, Iran ranks third with a total share of 8.25% and stands behind Libya and Saudi Arabia that respectively hold 9.43% and 23.50% of shares. The basic condition for membership is that the prospective member country should be a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Hajjar's remarks are significant, especially since US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he has opted to not certify Iran's nuclear accord and expects the US Congress to negotiate changes in the deal for it to better suit US interests.

In the meeting with IDB officials, Karbasian called on them to consider the rights of all member states and pointed to the multilateral development bank's special standing in the region.

He also complained that the bank has had a subpar cooperation with Iran with regard to problems facing Iranian officials who have been unable to attend a number of IDB meetings as a result of visa issues and called on Hajjar to look into the hurdles.

Potential fields of further collaboration between IDB and Iranian executive branches were reportedly examined in the meeting, while both sides spoke of ways of continuing joint ventures stronger than before.

Karbasian talked about ways through which the Iranian private sector will be able to enjoy facilities offered by IDB and it was decreed that both sides would negotiate further when an IDB delegation travels to Iran in the foreseeable future.

Expanding Economic, Financial Ties with Malaysia

The Iranian economy minister also met with Johari Abdul Ghani, Malaysia's second finance minister, and stressed on making further endeavors to develop Iran-Malaysia economic relations.

According to Karbasian, in light of Malaysia's importance as a Muslim nation and as both countries have enjoyed friendly ties in the past, their current level of economic ties is not proportionate to their political ones.

Abdul Ghani said Malaysian companies are eager to work in Iran while pointing to negotiations by unnamed Malaysian firms to finance the subway line for "a major Iranian metropolitan area" as a positive development and stressed the continuation of cooperation.

The Malaysian official said he is ready to travel to Iran as part of a top-tier commercial delegation comprising of the Southeast Asian country's minister of international trade and industry and private sector chiefs in early 2018.

Both sides also discussed ways of expanding financial and economic ties, especially through banking collaborations and extension of credit lines.

[sandfly]

please by end of year. that would be great

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http://theiranproject.com/blog/2017/10/16/rial-gains-despite-trumps-anti-iran-rhetoric/.................

ECONOMY

Rial gains despite Trump’s anti-Iran rhetoric

Financial Tribune- US President Donald Trump’s Friday speech ended the greenback’s three-week rally in Tehran’s foreign exchange market where the value of the American currency rose to its highest level since December 2016.

The US dollar lost 300 rials of its value against the Iranian currency on Saturday in Tehran’s unofficial foreign exchange market to fetch 39,998 rials, data on the Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union’s website indicate.

According to Pouya Jabal Ameli, a currency market analyst, the rial’s gain against USD has mostly to do with early expectations that Trump’s speech was going to be much harsher and contain a pullout from the nuclear deal, which did not happen.

Trump was mostly expected to formally pull out of the 2015 multilateral deal and impose a new set of sanctions in his Friday speech. That expectation had significantly affected Iran’s foreign exchange market, as the value of the most widely traded currencies registered notable jumps.

However, Trump announced that the US will remain in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (nuclear deal’s formal name) reached under Obama in 2015, but he will not certify to Congress that Iran is in compliance under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015. That was a decision that in effect put the ball in Congress’s court.

 

Abouzar Najmi, an international economics analyst, believes that the markets in Iran usually react prematurely to certain kinds of news but their potential consequences, when it materializes, do not have any serious impact.

“The rates of foreign currencies usually increase during the second half of each year, as the market is hotter and the demand for trading currency also increases,” he added.

Another reason behind the greenback’s recent rally was hectic activities of USD speculators in the open forex market aimed at pushing the dollar rate up to gain more profits.

Rumors circulated that USD is going to keep rising even above 50,000 rials in the next few days and most likely after Trump announces his new approach toward Iran and its nuclear deal.

However, the Central Bank of Iran defused speculators’ plans by injecting enough currency into the forex market to retain a relative stability.

According to Tasnim News Agency, CBI started distributing US dollar among selected exchange shops at 40,080 rials last Wednesday to once again take control of the turbulent forex market.

CBI’s move caused long rows in front of exchange shops and a rush in the market, but it seems that the plan has succeeded since the rally ended and the rates are also cooling off.

The US dollar started its rally on late November when its exchange rate in Tehran’s open market hovered around 38,920 rials and gained about 1,500 rials in 15 days and changed hands for 40,410 rials to mark its highest value in Iran’s forex market since December 2016.

In tandem with the US dollar, gold coin also registered a series of jumps to break its five-year record.

Mohammad Keshti-Aray, the head of Tehran’s Gold and Jewelry Union, told ISNA that political issues last week pushed up the prices of the precious metal in world markets to $18 per ounce.

“We expected that during the mourning month of Muharram, the volume of deals will fall and prices will decline, but gold’s bull run in world markets along with a surge in rates of foreign currencies in domestic markets resulted in gold coin registering its highest value in the last five years, i.e. above 13,000,000 rials ($325).

 

[markb57]

Come-on!  DROP THE ZERO's!!!!!!!  They're not even talking about it anymore

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Money and Credit Council, a top financial decision-making body with the Central Bank of Iran, has approved rules to manage liquidity risk in banks and credit institutions.

As liquidity risk is one of the most common challenges facing financial institutions, the central bank had earlier devised a set of regulations obligating banks to take measures to contain such risks.

According to CBI’s deputy for supervisory affairs, liquidity risk emanates from mismatched maturity periods for a credit institution’s assets and liabilities while the risk is so grave that it can push a bank or credit institution to bankruptcy.

“In recent years and especially after the international financial crisis, liquidity risk has been in the spotlight as banks’ supervisory officials are paying extra attention to it and devising higher standards and more strict obligations to manage this risk,” Farshad Heydari was also quoted as saying by CBI’s news website.

He noted that CBI has devised the new rules in line with the latest international banking supervisory standards.

Liquidity risk management regulations were approved during late Tuesday’s meeting of the Money and Credit Council presided by CBI Governor Valiollah Seif.

The CBI deputy hoped that the implementation of the new rules will increase the stability of Iranian banks and also bring them into more compliance with international standards.

Heydari further said during MCC’s latest meeting, another mandate to revise the regulation for bank guarantees has been approved.

 “The issues we had from implementing the previous regulations of bank guarantees, which are significantly important and useful tools for banking system, persuaded us to reform a part of the framework,” he said.

Heydari noted that the new rules are expected to facilitate the process of issuing bank guarantees for businesses while they should also eliminate the chances of abuse.

On the sidelines of the MCC meeting, Abdolrahman Nadimi Bushehri, the newly-appointed deputy minister of economy for banking and insurance affairs, was sworn in as as the new member of the decision-making council.

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The Iranian capital market’s first foreign currency exchange-traded fund is expected to come on stream next week, the deputy head of Securities and Exchange Organization, Ali Saeedi, has announced.

“One no longer needs to enter the physical forex market to invest in currencies. All that has to be done is buying shares in a foreign currency ETF, which will track currency fluctuations and provide investors with returns on investments,” Saeedi was quoted as saying by ILNA.

One aim of setting up currency ETFs, among others, may be to prevent shockwaves in the forex market during a supply deficit. That can be done by expanding their portfolio beyond only purchasing currencies by investing in export commodities and export-oriented firms that benefit from forex fluctuations.

“We’ve had many meetings this week and agreements are being made between the Central Bank of Iran and SEO. Regulatory concerns will be addressed by the end of the week and we expect to have the official go-ahead for setting up the ETF,” he said.

Currency ETFs invest in a single currency or a basket of currencies with the aim to replicate movements in currency in the foreign exchange market by holding currencies either directly or through currency-denominated short-term debt instruments.

Currency ETFs are widely used by investors who wish to gain exposure to the foreign exchange market and prefer not to enter the futures or forex market.

With the growing popularity of ETFs, investors have found it very easy and relatively inexpensive to trade currency ETFs to take advantage of fluctuations between currencies. Currency ETFs can be purchased to track most international currencies ,including the US and Canadian dollars, the euro, British pound and Japanese yen.

The two currencies dominating the Iranian forex market are the US dollar and euro. The former is the official currency used for Iranian transactions and the latter is the private sector’s currency of choice due to sanctions-related limitations on using the US currency.

Saeedi did not mention what currency or currencies the Iranian ETF will be denominated in.

The SEO seems to be aiming to attract investors away from the physical forex market, which is seeing a lot of activity these days due to rising political risks, to the capital market that is always in need of fresh supplies of liquidity.

This will relatively diminish forex trading risk and provide capital market investors with new options to put their money in.

The ETF is expected to fare well, considering the rising trajectory in many export-oriented stocks such as base metals on the back of growing commodity prices and a devaluing currency.

 USD, Euro Zoom Past Rial

Euro has gained 16.68% against rial so far this fiscal year (started March 21) to reach 47,980 rials on Wednesday. The currency started soaring as of the end of the first quarter (June 21) and its path forward seems to be unobstructed for the time being.

The US dollar maintained a relatively balanced trend up until last month with slight upticks. However, the greenback started soaring against the rial on Sept. 23 to gain 3.82% and end at 40,410 rials on Oct. 10.

The spike was mostly due to market anxiety over US President Donald Trump’s threats to unravel the nuclear deal, which eventually cooled down and started dropping, as the October 15 deadline for US certification of Iran’s compliance with JCPOA drew closer and leaks showed the deal is here to stay, at least for now. The currency has resumed growth since Sunday.

Overall, the USD has gained a total of 7.2% against rial to reach 40,210 rials since March 21.

 Base Metal Stocks Rising

Base metal stocks have been the hot new thing in Iran since early summer, as global prices showed signs of improvement due to China’s new environmental measures meant to crack down on pollutant industries.

The profit of producers, most of whom are exporters, exceeded forecasts with improving prices aligning with a weakening rial.

Now Tehran Stock Exchange’s Base Metals Index is close to crossing its all-time historic high of 46,975 reached on January 6, 2014. It has come a long way since its January 2016 all-time low of 19,439 by growing more than 138% up to now.

The index closed Wednesday trade at 46,417.40 to record a 0.64% daily growth.

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Brazil to host branches of Iranian banks

News ID: 4117600 - Wed 18 October 2017 - 11:06

Economy

TEHRAN, Oct. 18 (MNA) – Brazil’s Minister of Finance, at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart in Washington DC, welcomed the idea of opening branches of Iranian banks in his country.

On the sidelines of the 2017 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group in Washington DC, Iranians Minister of Economy Masoud Karbasian met and talked with Henrique Meirelles, the Brazilian Finance Minister.

At the meeting, Karbasian described the latest economic status of the country and, while referring to capabilities of both sides in various industrial, agricultural and trade sectors, called for fortifying existing relations.

Given that his ministry is in charge of the Joint Economic Commission between Tehran and Brasilia, Masoud Karbasian emphasized the need to exploit opportunities in areas of agriculture and transportation.

Iran’s economy minister referred to recent talks between Central Bank of Iran and Brazilian banks which led to establishment of broker relations and called for opening of branches for Iranian banks in the South American country.

Also at the meeting, Brazil’s finance minister stressed the need to boost economic relations between the two countries and, while voicing satisfaction towards recent developments, welcomed the initiative to launch branches of Iranian banks in his country.

Henrique Meirelles also called for cooperation over investment in agricultural arenas and rejoiced to say that talks between Brazilian firms and Iranian counterparts had been successful.

The official voiced his country’s willingness to supply Iran’s demands in the aviation sector and voiced optimism that existing barriers will be eliminated.

The two sides also agreed to hold a meeting of Iran-Brazil Joint Economic Commission within three months in Tehran.