A delegation of Central Bank of Iran (CBI), who had visited Washington DC to attend Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group, held sessions with governors and deputy governors of central banks of several countries.
While concluding Article IV consultation at the meeting with Monetary and Capital Markets (MCM) Department of the IMF, Peyman Ghorbani, CBI Deputy for Economic Affairs, recounted on latest conditions and developments in the Iranian economy and highlighted its macroeconomic indicators as well as the success achieved in controlling inflation and stabilizing currency market.
The session also dealt with realization of one-digit inflation and the two-digit growth in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 21) as well as investment developments especially in the field of machineries.
Furthermore, monetary policies, credit crunch and prediction of economic growth were discussed. Ghorbani noted that continued economic growth in the new year was subject reducing reliance on oil revenues adding “in this regard, importance role of financing requires due attention by pursuing reforms in the banking system and strengthening share of capital market and foreign financing.”
At a separate meeting with Statistics Department (STA) of IMF, latest statistical developments of CBI were discussed and venues for expansion of cooperation were investigated. Also at a session with IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development (ICD), significance of providing training in macroeconomic analysis and policy was emphasized and methods of boosting Iran’s utilization of the training services were analyzed.
Deputy Governor of the CBI for Foreign Exchange Affairs Gholamali Kamyab, at the same meeting, said necessary arrangements had been made for standardization of exchange rate with the only remaining obstacle being lack of adequate broker relations; “despite all resolutions emerged following the JCPOA implementation, funds are still being transferred slowly as well as that provision of liquidity and funds to make payments in different countries is not fast enough.”
Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) voiced its readiness to provide Iran with technical assistance in various fields like exchange rate standardization, banking supervision, monetary policy and designing mechanisms for currency transactions.
Iran’s Kamyab also met with Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Brazil for International Affairs and Corporate Risk Management Tiago Couto Berriel and, while pointing to volume of trade turnover between the two countries in the past, said “we still hold trade ties though transactions are carried out by third-party companies who are mainly multinational ones while Iran is eager to conduct trade directly through banks of the two countries.”
Mr. Berriel confirmed viewpoints of CBI deputy governor and expressed willingness to bolster bilateral relations noting that one possibility was to open branches of Iranian banks in Brazil.
At a yet separate meeting, Gholamali Kamyab met with his Turkish counterpart and the two sides mulled over necessary measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The Turkish side said he was eager to deploy compliance experts to Iran in order to share experiences and invited Iranians to visit the Business School of Central Bank of Turkey as a suitable venue for training issues.
Vice-governor of CBI also attended a session with his Italian counterpart and the side appreciated recent resolutions in bilateral banking relations.
The Iranian delegation also met with authorities of central banks of Austria, India, Lebanon in addition to deputy ministry of strategy and finance of the Republic of Korea, deputy governor of New Development Bank (NDB) as well as members of IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development (ICD).
This year's Spring Meetings events took place in Washington, DC, April 21-23, 2017. Seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and many other events focused on the global economy, international development, and the world's financial markets were also featured.
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