Financial Tribune - In a bid to encourage companies to return their export earnings to the country, the Central Bank of Iran has offered a new incentive package.

Depending on the exporters� earnings and their performance, the incentive involves allowing them to sell a portion of their forex to exchange bureaux in cash or hawala instead of selling entirely via Nima (Persian acronym for the Integrated Forex Deals System), the CBI website reported.

Nima rates are higher than the official CBI rates (42,000 rials to one USD) but lower than the open market rates (1USD= 118,000 rials). This is a primary reason behind many exporters� reluctance to sell their forex via Nima. They say they have no objection to repatriate their currency earnings, but the compulsion to sell via Nima is a spanner in their works.