TEHRAN - The 99th dialogue council of the government and the private sector was held in Tehran on Monday, in which issues pertaining to the re-injection of export revenues into the country’s forex management system (known as NIMA) was discussed.

In the meeting, the representatives of the private sector mentioned some of the problems that the exporters are currently facing in fulfilling their obligations regarding the re-injection of their foreign currency earnings into the country’s economy and offered 10 solutions for these problems, the portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) reported.

It was also decided that the proposals made by the ICCIMA should be considered in the Article 2 Committee, whose members are the Ministers of Economy, Industry, and Oil, in addition to the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), and the Head of the Planning and Budget Organization (PBO).

As reported, the ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafeie was also scheduled to attend the committee as a representative of the private sector.

According to Shafeie, limitation of the ways for returning the export revenues to NIMA and SANA systems, limitation of the import foreign currency allocations to the approval of the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade, the short deadline for fulfilling obligations (exporters are obliged to return their earning within four months), and imposing heavy taxes on exports were the major challenges that the country’s exporters and importers are currently facing.

Extending the dues for returning the export incomes, amending the methods for calculation of basic export prices, considering alternative ways for returning the export revenues in addition to the injection into the NIMA system, and categorizing the country’s export companies for determining their shares of foreign currency allocation, and modifying the ceiling of the obligations by 20 percent were among the most important solutions offered by the ICCIMA to facilitate the non-oil exports and the return of export incomes.

Central Bank of Iran offers the country’s exporters and importers foreign currency with an official rates and expects them to return the equal of the currency that they have received into the country’s economic cycle.

Based on the CBI regulations for the returning of the export revenues, exporters with annual exports of three to ten million euros are obliged to offer 70 percent and those with exports of above 10 million euros per annum must offer 90 percent of the received foreign exchange at NIMA within a four-month period following their exports.

Representatives of the private sector, however, have repeatedly criticized CBI’s strict policies in this regard, calling them counterproductive and the CBI on the other hand claims that the private sector is not fulfilling its commitments regarding the return of foreign currency earnings into the country’s economy.

EF/MA