Iran's CB Says Forex Well Supplied at Nima

EghtesadOnline: Supply of foreign currency to the regulated wholesale market and the secondary forex market known as Nima increased in the current fiscal year (started March), an official with the Central Bank of Iran said.

News ID: ۷۸۷۳۸۱

06 December 2021

In a note posted on his Twitter account, Mostafa Qamari-Vafa, head of the PR department of the bank, said the daily supply at Nima was 70% higher than the average daily last year.

Nima is a currency trade platform through which non-oil exporters sell their overseas forex income and companies buy to pay their import bills. The rate in this market is usually lower than the open market.

“Supply of currency in regulated market this year has been 3.7 times higher than the same period last year,” Qamari-Vafa  noted.

The regulated market is a CBI-affiliated spot market operated by a network of banks and certified moneychangers dealing in wholesale currency.

The Twitter note was the first response by the CBI to the sharp increase in currency rates in recent days.

It apparently sought to assure the public that there is sufficient supply of foreign currency in the market and the ongoing volatility is due to factors beyond supply and demand.

“This is the reality of the currency market, [it is] smooth and accessible when prices are determined by supply and demand,” Qamari-Vafa wrote.

The dollar crossed above the psychological 300,000 rials in the Tehran open market on Saturday, jumping 8,600 rials or 2.85% in one day to settle at 301,600 rials – a 14-month high.

However, currency prices paused on Sunday. The greenback dipped 0.3% or 1,000 rials to close at 300,600 rials.

Official exchange shops pushed up prices slightly to narrow the gap with the open market rates.

One dollar was worth 260,870 rials at the Melli Exchange, up 0.75% or 1,980 rials compared to the session before.

Earlier the CBI Governor Ali Salehabadi said he was optimistic that currency revenues coming into the country (via exporters) can and will help calm the jittery market.

The senior banker said that the CBI is keen on augmenting  forex revenue through non-oil export and channeling it into the national economy.

Non-oil exporters sold the equivalent of $18.1 billion via Nima in the past eight months (March 21-Nov.21). The amount was $10.7 billion in the corresponding period last year, according to CBI data.

Forex deals at Nima are largely tied to importing basic goods, raw material plus capital and intermediate goods for manufactures.

The unprecedented decline in oil export as a result of the 2018 US economic sanctions has hurt government revenue and compelled it to encourage non-oil export as an alternative source of currency in the past four years.

Highlight: The dollar crossed above the psychological 300,000 rials in the Tehran open market on Saturday, jumping 8,600 rials or 2.85% in one day to settle at 301,600 rials – a 14-month high