Four million tons of food and medicines are strandedin Iranian customs because of disagreements between the central bank and the Commerce Ministry over access to a preferential currency exchange rate for importers of essential goods, local media reported.The central bank is legally bound to allocate dollars at a cheaper rate for importers of goods classified as essential until late March 2014, though it has not done so, the Tehran-basedSharghnewspaper said. Importers are being asked to pay a rate twice as high to release goods from customs, said thedaily, which interviewed trade representatives.
Last month Irans central bank canceled the set preferential rate of 12,260 rials per dollar, replacing it with a variable rate posted on itswebsite. Todays rate is 24,789 rials for the dollar.
The disagreement comes as PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejadleaves office next week to be succeeded byHassan Rohani, a moderate cleric and lawyer by training. The new president has pledged to tackle Irans inflation and unemployment. U.S.-led sanctions over the countrys nuclear program have also cut the Persian Gulf nations oil exports and its access to foreign currency.
We all admit that Irans foreign currency revenues have dropped, said Majid-Reza Ansari, who heads the imports committee at Irans Chamber of Commerce. Still, we need to properly manage the existing revenues rather than avoid allocating currencies and disrupting the market.
Asadollah Asgaroladi, head of the Chamber of Commerces export committee, said it was likely there would be shortages of some essential goods in the absence of a quick solution, the Iranian Labor News Agency said yesterday.
Masoud Daneshmand, a member of the Tehran chamber of commerces board of representatives, expressed similar concerns in the Shagh report today.
If the dispute is not resolved and relegated to the next administration it may not be possible for the goods to be cleared before October, Daneshmand said, which means much of the foodstuff will perish.
By Bloomberg
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