TEHRAN – Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Farhad Dejpasand said the government has allocated over $3 billion for importing basic goods since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21), IRIB reported.

“We are still using the last year’s imports and so far [since the beginning of the current year] over $3 billion has been allocated for supplying basic goods,” the official said.

Dejpasand noted that the government is seeking to separate trade ministry from the ministry of industry, mining and trade in order to be able to better manage and monitor the market.

According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) data, Iran imported $14 billion worth of basic goods during the first 11 months of the past Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2018 – February 19, 2019).

Earlier in March, Head of IRICA Mehdi Mirashrafi said “Regarding the basic goods, the country is well supplied and even the imports of some commodities like corn and meat have increased.”

Also in December 2018, the Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani announced that since the beginning of the last Iranian calendar year the government paid $14 billion of foreign currency at official exchange rate to import basic goods.

EF/MA