Iran forex reserve over $100bn

An official with the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has stated that the country has at least 100 billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he told the Fars News Agency that the foreign exchange reserve is different from the foreign exchange reserve account, noting that the figures announced by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and some CBI officials refer to the foreign exchange reserve and not the foreign exchange reserve account.

The official explained that the content of the foreign exchange reserve account is in constant fluctuation due to various inputs and outputs and certain times it might reach the zero level, without contradicting the statement that the country has at least 100 billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves.

He also stated that Iran’s abundant reserves of gold and various foreign currencies, which serve as a back-up to foreign exchange reserves, have put the Islamic Republic in an unparalleled position in the world.

He also urged domestic media outlets to be more careful when reporting on economic data, particularly at a time when the countries that have imposed sanctions on Iran are trying to take advantage of every mistake made by the domestic media.

Earlier in April, Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Shamseddin Hosseini said on the sidelines of the annual spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington that Iran’s foreign exchange reserves stood at 100 billion dollars in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2010.

He noted that the Islamic Republic’s foreign debt also stood at 20 billion dollars during the previous Iranian fiscal year.