TEHRAN – The head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Samad Hassanzadeh has criticized the Central Bank of Iran (CBI)’s policies for controlling inflation, saying that the inflation control policies of the central bank are hindering the financing of private sector projects.

Speaking in a meeting with the CBI Governor Mohammadreza Farzin on Monday, Hassanzadeh said: “Although the CBI efforts to reduce inflation is commendable, the control of banks' balance sheets is done at the cost of reducing the private sector's access to financial resources, and unfortunately, the government continues to interfere in allocation of banking resources.”

The CBI policies have caused the private sector, which has always been struggling with financing issues, to face a more severe crisis. The credit facilities of the banks do not cover the liquidity requirements of the production units, especially in the last months of the year, Hassanzadeh added.

He further mentioned other challenges faced by the private sector economic operators, especially exporters and stated that one of the main demands of the private sector from CBI is to establish stability in the forex market.

“One of the demands of economic operators is to be able to predict the exchange rate for future planning, which we hope will be realized with the central bank’s help,” he noted.

Farzin for his part said that the CBI has been looking for a new policy to manage the foreign currency market and to provide traders with the necessary foreign currency.

“Since two years ago, the fluctuations of the currency market have increased, and to prevent the consequences of this situation, the Nima system was formed so that foreign currency rates become more predictable,” he said.

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Photo: CBI Governor Mohammadreza Farzin (L) and ICCIMA Head Samad Hassanzadeh