Financial Tribune - The government will no longer allocate subsidized foreign currency at the rate of 42,000 rials per US dollar for rice imports, Fars News Agency quoted the head of Rice Importers Association, Abbas Tavakkoli, as saying.

Rice importers are allowed to procure their forex requirements from the export earnings of non-oil products (petrochemicals, steels and minerals) traded through the so-called secondary FX market, known by its Persian acronym Nima.

Following the re-tanking of the national currency in early 2017, the government introduced stringent rules like banning the import of non-essential goods, especially those produced inside the country (known as Group IV goods).