Both countries agree! National currency, traded in place of USD
According to Iranian media reports, on December 27, local time, at a meeting between the governor of the Central Bank of Iran and the governor of the Russian Central Bank, the two countries finally reached an agreement to use their own currencies instead of the U.S. dollar in commercial transactions. Reports say that with the operationalization of a currency and banking platform between Iran and Russia, a new chapter in banking relations between the two countries has begun.
According to reports, considering that the cooperation measures previously agreed upon by the central banks of Iran and Russia have been finalized, the two central banks will continue to finalize cooperation details at the technical and specialized terms in the future. In addition, the meeting also identified an import credit line worth 6.5 billion rubles for the shipment of basic commodities from Russia to Iran.
It is understood that recently, an Iranian bank has opened the first overseas letter of credit of the Iranian banking network in Russia for import. The value of the letter of credit is €17 million.
Iran-Russia trade volume increased by 18%
On December 17, according to Iranian customs data, in the first eight months of 2023 (March to November 2023), the bilateral trade volume between Iran and Russia reached US$1.76 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18%. Among them, Iran’s exports to Russia were US$620 million, a year-on-year increase of 32%, and Iran’s imports from Russia were US$1.14 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12%.
The Central Bank of Russia announced that the benchmark interest rate will be raised to 16%
The Central Bank of Russia announced on the 15th that it decided to increase the benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points from 15% to 16%.
The Russian Central Bank stated that current inflationary pressures are still high. Russia’s inflation rate is expected to be close to the upper limit of 7.0%-7.5% in 2023. At the same time, the Russian Central Bank predicts that Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in 2023 will be higher than the October forecast and exceed 3%. Credit market segments are showing signs of slowing, but overall credit growth remains high. Residents’ inflation expectations and corporate price expectations have both increased. The goal of restoring and further stabilizing the inflation rate at around 4% in 2024 means that the Russian economy will maintain a tight monetary environment for a long time.
According to the forecast of the Russian Central Bank, taking into account the current monetary and credit policies, Russia’s annual inflation rate will drop to 4.0%-4.5% in 2024, and will remain around 4.0% thereafter.
The Russian Central Bank stated that in the future, it will make further decisions on the benchmark interest rate based on the actual and expected dynamics of inflation, economic development, domestic and foreign risks, and the reaction of financial markets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the annual large-scale press conference and “Live Connection” TV live event held in Moscow on the 14th that Russia’s GDP is expected to grow by 3.5% in 2023, “which is a very good growth rate.” Indicator”, which shows that last year’s GDP decline trend has been reversed and a big step forward. He also pointed out that Russia’s inflation rate is expected to reach 7.5% or even 8% before the end of this year, and the central bank and the government are taking necessary measures to bring it back to the target range.
In February 2022, the Russian Central Bank significantly raised the benchmark interest rate from 9.5% to 20%. Since April 2022, the Russian Central Bank has cut interest rates several times, lowering the benchmark interest rate to 7.5%. In response to inflationary pressure, the Russian Central Bank announced on July 21 this year that it would raise the benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 8.5%, on August 15 it would be raised by 350 basis points to 12%, on September 15 it would be raised by 100 basis points to 13%, and in October On the 27th, it was raised by 200 basis points to 15%.
Ministry of Commerce reminds: Pay attention to these when exporting to Iran
About the risks of receiving and paying through underground banksUnderground banks are based on personal credit. The bank will not advance payment. The customer first pays at one end and then at the other end. Collection. In the past two years, our office has received many complaints about transfers through underground banks, resulting in the loss of remittances.
In Iran, private individuals can legally operate bank businesses after obtaining a license from the central bank. However, due to the excessive number of intermediate links in bank remittances and the impact of sanctions, anonymous account payments are usually adopted. After a risk occurs, it is difficult to recover the remittance due to many intermediary links, bank statements showing discrepancies between the remitter and the actual remitter, and other reasons.
It is illegal to operate underground financial businesses in China. In the past two years, the Chinese police have uncovered many cases of foreigners participating in illegal underground financial businesses in China (Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places) and frozen a large amount of funds involved in illegal financial activities.
The risk of Iranian sellers designating third-party overseas accounts for paymentA company in Qingdao in China imported iron ore from Iran and paid a contract deposit of US$300,000 in advance to the Iranian seller through Standard Chartered Bank account in Hong Kong of a third-party company specified in the email. More than a month after the buyer made the payment, the seller said that he had not received the advance payment, and no one from the designated third-party account company responded. The Chinese company made a special trip to Iran to negotiate with the seller. The Iranian seller said that they were not the actual payee and could help the Chinese company find the money in Hong Kong.
AboutRisk warning of hackers attacking emails to tamper with bank accountsIn the past two years, many Chinese companies have encountered bank accounts that have been agreed with Iranian customers via email for payment and payment. A case where the money was transferred to another bank account after receiving the email. According to the documents produced by the complaining company, some payment instruction documents are in PDF and image formats and have been tampered with. Similar cases mostly occur when the email password of the payee or payer is stolen.
The risk of fraud by fabricating Iranian collecting bank informationAn Iranian company imported laser engraving equipment from China and agreed to have it purchased by a formal company in Iran. Major banks pay by collection (D/P). First, after the buyer pays the advance payment through the regular Iranian bank, the seller sends the goods. Afterwards, the buyer claimed that the Iranian bank had been frozen due to sanctions, fabricated the name and address of another bank, deceived the seller into mailing the documents to the address of its designated affiliate company, and then picked up the goods without paying after obtaining the documents.
The risk of custom-made goods being rejected by buyers and lowering pricesMany Chinese companies accept offers from Iranian companies The order was specifically for a certain kind of goods (saw blades of a certain model and specification, mechanical accessories, etc.). After the seller received the advance payment and shipped the goods to the Iranian port, the buyer found various reasons to refuse to accept the goods or severely reduced the price. Considering that it is difficult to resell customized products and find other buyers, and the goods are piled up at the port, resulting in high demurrage fees, demurrage fees, and the risk of being auctioned by the customs over time, the seller ultimately had to accept a serious price reduction and the goods were not guaranteed. It is recommended that customized products require the buyer to pay in full by T/T or open a letter of creditL/C before shipment.
Beware of risks when shipping to prevent losing money and goods! ! </strong
