Ending Sanctions Marks Iran Getting $32 bln of Unfrozen Assets

Local Editor

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif said on Tuesday the republic will receive $32 billion of unfrozen assets after sanctions were lifted in a deal with world powers over its nuclear program.

Seif was quoted by state television as saying that $28 billion would go to the Central Bank and $4 billion "will be transferred to the state treasury as the share of the government."

He said the unfreezing of assets after the implementation of Iran's nuclear agreement with six world powers on Saturday also helped lower the costs of transfer by 10 to 15 percent.

Meanwhile, the unfreezing of assets came after the United Nations atomic watchdog confirmed at the weekend that Iran complied with measures provided by the deal with global powers reached in Vienna in July.

According to Seif, the assets can be used "to buy and import goods, as the entry of such an amount of currency in to the country is not logical."

However, the bank plans to keep the funds "in centralized and safe accounts" abroad, he added.

For its part, Iranian media reports also quoted Seif as saying that CBI has ordered the transfer of part of Iranian assets from Japan to Germany.

Besides, the Bank's governor noted that a single foreign exchange system will be introduced in the country within six months.

In the context, Iran's national currency, the Rial, has been traditionally traded at two rates one being traded by CBI and the other one set by money changers.

The Iranian Rial depreciated against the US dollar after the closing days of 2011 when Washington and its allies started imposing anti-Iran sanctions.

Seif also made reference to Iranian banks' bid to rejoin the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication [SWIFT], noting that the system was restored as all the preliminary measures to reconnect to [SWIFT] were already taken.

He further spoke of the opening of some one thousand Letters of Credit at Iranian banks.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team