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Source: Press TV
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Iran
has withdrawn a huge sum of its foreign exchange reserves from European banks
and has deposited some of it into Asian banks. |
Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad orders banks to
move assets to beat EU
The president of Iran has ordered the country's leading banks to
transfer billions of dollars of assets from Europe to the Central
Bank to prevent them being frozen by international sanctions,
according to Western diplomats.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the move amid growing concern that
Iranian banks would soon be subject to strengthened European
Union-level sanctions. But his action has caused friction with
Tahmaseb Mazaheri, the governor of the Central Bank. The Iranian
press has reported that he may resign over the issue - Telegraph,
UK |
Iran's economic policy falls victim to
political feuds
When a nation
faces an external threat there is a general tendency to close ranks
and put aside internal disagreements. It seems that no one among
Iran's economic policy-makers is paying much attention to this
centuries-old rule.
While the US and its allies are intensifying economic and financial
sanctions against Iran, Iranian officials are locked in an
escalating dispute over several sensitive economic policies such as
reorganisation of state-owned banks and determination of interest
rates. -Nader Habibi,
Gulf News, UAE |
"Based on a decision made by a government working
group, Iran has switched to 'genuine' assets like gold and shares... We have
decreased our foreign currency holdings in international banks," said Iran's
Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs, Mohsen Talaei.
"A portion of Iran's foreign exchange reserves, however, was moved to Asian
banks," he added in his interview with Borna news agency published on Monday.
According to the official, Iran keeps only the minimum currency it needs for its
accounts to remain open in Europe but manages its accounts in Asia in a way that
will allow trade transactions to continue.
Iran has abandoned the dollar in oil trading in favor of the yen, citing the
weakness of US currency for its decision.
Iran has been selling nearly 700,000 barrels of crude oil to Japan on a daily
basis in yen since mid-2007, Talaei concluded.
The US has imposed sanctions against Iranian banks and continues to persuade
countries to halt their business relations with Tehran.
While some are of the opinion that sanctions have crippled Iran's economy, the
refusal of financial institutions in Russia, China and Middle Eastern countries
have proven such efforts futile.
Iran's annual international trade has reportedly exceeded 65 billion dollars and
some foreign banks that had frozen Iranian assets have released the country's
holdings.
... Payvand News - 06/10/08 ...
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