TEHRAN – Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdolnasser Hemmati assured that the country has sufficient foreign exchange reserves to finance its imports through the end of U.S. President Donald Trump’s term and even beyond, despite economic pressure and declining oil revenues.
In a post on social media, Hemmati outlined key points from a televised interview he gave to Bloomberg on the sidelines of last week’s annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Hemmati said Iran’s inflation, which had accelerated sharply following the 40-day U.S.-Israeli war of aggression, eased during the three months leading up to the end of Shahrivar (September 22).
The CBI governor addressed U.S. efforts to intensify economic pressure on Iran, saying Washington has pursued a policy of economic outcast and tightening the siege in an attempt to bring about Iran’s economic collapse within two weeks.
Despite the heavy economic pressure on the Iranian people, he said, the U.S. has failed to achieve its primary objective, demonstrating that the expectation of a rapid economic collapse has been an illusion.
Regarding declining oil revenues, Hemmati stressed that oil income accounts for only a limited share of the government’s budget. He said the government is determined to cover the budget deficit through other sources of revenue in rials, including asset sales, necessary reforms in the energy sector and exports of petroleum products.
On foreign exchange resources, he said Iran is still receiving foreign currency earnings from oil exports and has also made the necessary arrangements to sustain those resources in the future.