Iran’s chief banker rejects IMF estimate about dwindling reserves

Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati has rejected as flawed a recent estimate by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which suggests Iran’s foreign currency reserves declined significantly in 2020 to only $4 billion.

According to Press TV, Hemmati wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday that IMF’s estimate about the state of Iran’s reserves is reflective of the organization’s mistaken approach to the Iranian economy.

Hemmati suggested that the IMF had used flawed and unverified data to calculate the current amount of reserves held by the CBI.

The chief banker had earlier criticized the IMF for refusing to process an Iranian request for a $5-billion loan that the country needs to tackle the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The publication of a mistaken estimate by this Fund, without gaining the verification of the CBI, is not becoming of the IMF just like their discriminatory behavior,” read part of Hemmati’s post.

In a report published earlier this month about general economic indicators in economies of West Asia and Central Asia region, the IMF said that Iran’s official reserves had declined from $122.5 billion in 2018 to $12.4 billion in 2019. Tables published in the report showed that the reserves had further dwindled by over 67.7% last year to reach $4 billion.

ME