​​Banks Warned Against Higher Interest Rates

In a fresh warning to banks and credit institutions, the Central Bank of Iran said they must not pay interest on deposits over and above those set by the regulator.

In a press release posted on its website, the CBI cited reports about some banks that arbitrarily raised interest rates on big deposits and savings and warned the CEOs of such banks that will face the full force of the law.

The warning came after reports that some banks were offering more than 20% interest on deposits, apparently in the attempt to lure customers with big money.
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State Firms Pile Up Huge Losses

State and government owned companies produce losses estimated at 710 trillion rials ($2.4 billion) a year, chief of Auditing Organization of Iran said.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mousa Bozrog-Asl, reviewed the performance of the companies in the last fiscal year that ended in March.

He singled out ten loss-making companies that account for nearly 90% of the total loss shown by state and government enterprises, the Economy Ministry website, Shada.ir reported.
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Proposed Banking Law Will Harm, Not Help the Economy

Head of the Tehran Chamber of Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture said the banking bill now being debated in the Majlis is a matter of concern for private companies.

Mosoud Khansari conveyed the list of concerns voiced by the already struggling private sector in a letter to Majlis Speaker to Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf. He complained that the lawmakers have been indifferent toward private sector proposals for amending key provisions of the controversial bill.

“This bill has raised concerns business owners. It (the bill if it becomes law) will deprive the country of the capacity to stabilize the macro economy, tame inflation and promote healthy banking,” the rare letter said in part.
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Food Inflation Hit 81.2% YOY

The Consumer Price Index of “food and beverages” stood at 790.9 in the fifth month of the current Iranian year (July 23-Aug. 22) to register a staggering 81.2% year-on-year rise, new data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show.

The group’s annualized and monthly inflation rates reached 57.4% and 1.4% respectively.

The 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households include "food and beverages" with a coefficient of 26.64%, "tobacco" with 0.59%, "clothing and shoes" with 4.78%, "housing, water, electricity, natural gas and other fuels" with 35.5% (highest), "furniture, home appliances and their maintenance" with 3.93%, "health and treatment" with 7.14%, "transportation" with 9.41%, "communications" with 2.87%, "leisure and culture" with 1.65%, "education" with 1.86%, "hotels and restaurants" with 1.44% and "miscellaneous items and services" with 4.18%.
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Renewed Appeal for Unified Forex Rates

Heads of three major business organizations have called on President Ebrahim Raisi to adopt effective measures to unify the forex rates.

In a letter signed by Gholam Hossein Shafei, the head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA); Saeid Mombeini, the head of Iran Chamber of Guilds and Bahman Abdollahi, the head of Iran Chamber of Cooperatives, the president has been urged to put a permanent end to the chaotic multiple currency rates and address the economic challenges afflicting businesses across the country.

The signatories named at least four exchange rates, recalling that the present state of affairs is a bane of the struggling economy and serves as oxygen for fraud and rent-seeking, Fars News Agency reported.
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Transportation Registers 35.4% Inflation: SCI

“Transportation”, one of the 12 groups of goods and services surveyed by the Statistical Center of Iran for calculating the inflation, registered an annualized inflation rate of 35.4% in the fifth month of the current Iranian year (July 23-Aug. 22).

The group’s month-on-month and year-on-year inflation rates reached 1.2% and 38.4% respectively.

With a coefficient of 9.41%, the “transportation” CPI was 595.4, up 1.2% on the month before. This index registered a YOY increase of 38.4% and its annualized CPI increased by 35.4%.
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4-Month Budget Monitoring Report

The Supreme Audit Court of Iran, the supervisory arm of the Iranian Parliament, has released its budget monitoring report for the first four months of the current fiscal year (March 21-July 22).

The periodic report provides information on financial flows and programs implemented by the government to achieve the goals and targets set in the 2022-23 Budget Law.

According to the new report, revenues and expenditures during the period achieved 62% and 66% of their respective budget targets.
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Iranian Oil Storage in Persian Gulf Rises by 500,000 Barrels


With the completion of the reconstruction and overhaul project of Tank No. 4 of the Bahregan region in Bushehr Province, the Iranian crude oil storage capacity in the Persian Gulf has increased by 500,000 barrels, managing director of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company said.

“The storage capacity has now increased by 10%, which will promote the prosperity of the region since the area is a terminal for crude oil and gas condensate import and export,” Alireza Mehdizadeh was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana.
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Iran's Foreign Trade Increases by 25% YOY to Over $8 Billion

Iran traded 11.32 million tons of goods worth $8.11 billion (excluding crude oil exports) during the fifth month of the current Iranian year (July 23-Aug. 22) to register a 10.6% and 25.4% rise in tonnage and value respectively compared with the similar month of last year, according to the spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.

Exports stood at 8.42 million tons worth $3.65 billion, registering an 11% and 18% year-on-year rise in weight and value respectively, Rouhollah Latifi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.

China was the biggest export destination of Iranian exports during the period, as it imported 2.26 million tons worth $1.1 billion to register a 1% YOY increase in value.
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Debt Collection Is Improving: NDFI

Head of the National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI) said repayment of loans given by the sovereign wealth fund has gained pace in recent months.

“Since the beginning of the last fiscal year March 2021 up until now, we have collected debts three times more than the same period in the previous year,” Mehdi Qazanfari told IBENA.

NDFI is independent of the government and was set up in 2011 to curb dependency on oil and save some of the earnings from oil and gas exports for future generations.
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Stage Is Set for Differentiating Business and Personal Bank A/Cs

Compartmentalizing bank accounts into business and personal financial records has advantages for customers, an official with Central Bank of Iran said.

The regulator recently instructed banks to separate the accounts that business owners use for their business needs from regular accounts.

Abouzar Soroush, the CBI deputy for supervisory affairs, said the goal is to improve transparency in the economic and financial structure of the country, which also has merit for business owners.
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