According to ISNA, Abdul Nasser Hemmati stated in the meeting of the Government-Private Sector Dialogue Council, “Given the current situation, exports are very important to us, thus the Central Bank has no intention of putting pressure on exporters to the extent that they cannot work. Nevertheless, the fulfillment of the foreign exchange obligation will be pursued as one of the serious priorities of the country.”

He continued, “Due to the conditions of sanctions, we have to keep on being strict because we need foreign currencies to import the required goods to the country, but this does not mean ignoring the role of exporters and the importance of their activities for the country.”

Referring to the bad credit exporters who have not returned their foreign currencies, the governor said, “Apart from trying to appreciate the reputable exporters, it should be borne in mind that during this period, 250 exporters have not returned even one dollar of their currencies to the country while these people had to fulfill their seven-billion-dollar foreign currency commitment.”

According to Hemmati, the investigations showed that 70 of these people were homeless sleeping in cartons, and these exports were made by using disposable business cards. Therefore, the Central Bank will hand over the names of these violators to the judiciary power.”

The governor of the Central Bank stated that handing over the names of the bad credit exporters to the judiciary power was approved by the heads of the three powers and added, “We even tried not to introduce those who returned part of their foreign currencies to the judiciary power. I even said in a conversation with the head of the judiciary power that the Central Bank is not interested in this measure, but the foreign exchange obligation must be fulfilled.”

Hemmati continued, “When importers gather in front of the central bank and ask why you do not give us foreign currencies? What can we answer to them? Do not doubt that the opinion of the government and the Central Bank is a firm support of exporters. But the issue of foreign exchange commitment will also be of great importance for the management of the country’s requirements.”

He also commented on the proposal regarding the barter of import and export currencies, “If Minister of Industry, Mine and trade accepts responsibility in this respect and, for example, tells us that an exporter has the priority for import, we will accept this issue, but the relevant responsibility should be accepted. We believe that the decline in exports was not due to the Central Bank’s directives, and this matter has behind-the-scene issues that we are aware of.”

 Stating that the country has passed the peak of sanctions, the Governor of the Central Bank stressed, “We hope to have a good leap in the field of exports in the second half of the year, and by increasing in foreign currency supply on the Nima system the exchange will be hopefully controlled. In the past few days, an average of $ 150 million has been registered on the Nima system, and we hope that prices in this market will be controlled by passing the peak of sanctions.”