Iran reports major jump in gold imports
A senior trade official says Iran’s gold imports have jumped significantly amid easier government rules that allow exporters of goods and services to use gold to pay their foreign exchange debts to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).
Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization Mehdi Zeighami said on Saturday that the country had imported some 5 metric tons (mt) of gold over the past weeks.
Zeighami said the jump in gold imports was because the government had eased its requirements on return of exports proceeds into Iran, adding that more exporters have been importing gold to pay their hard currency liabilities to the CBI.
“Imports of gold ingot are economical for businesses and we have tried to diversify methods used for repatriation of hard currency,” he was quoted as saying while speaking in a meeting with businesses in the central city of Arak.
The amount of gold imported into Iran over the past two weeks is higher than the total imports recorded by the country over the five months to August 22.
Figures released by the Iranian customs office (IRICA) on Saturday showed that the country had taken delivery of 4.104 mt of standard gold ingots in March-August.
IRICA said in a statement that the value of gold ingots imported over the five months to late August had amounted to more than $265 million.
It said a bulk of imports had been processed via the customs office in the Imam Khomeini airport near Tehran and the rest had been imported via customs offices near Iran’s border with Turkey.
Iran introduced measures in November last year to ease regulations on gold ingot imports amid efforts to get round the US sanctions that hamper its access to banking services.
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