Efforts for Unfreezing Iran’s Assets, Getting Loan from IMF on Positive Track: CBI
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdonnaser Hemmati said the CBI is making all-out efforts to provide funds for the purchase of medicines and medical equipment needed for the battle against the coronavirus outbreak amid the cruel US sanctions.
“The Central Bank of Iran, in continuation of its active approach and efforts, is doing all in its power, with the cooperation and support of the respected Foreign Minister, to provide the foreign currency the country needs … to procure medicines and medical equipment…,” Hemmati wrote in an Instagram post on Friday.
Efforts for swiftly obtaining a loan from the International Monetary Fund, as Iran’s legitimate and absolute right, and unfreezing of the CBI’s foreign currency funds that have been blocked illegally under the US government’s pressure are both on positive tracks, he added.
Hemmati further stressed that under the current serious conditions, it is necessary that countries face no restrictions in supplying their needs to fight the pandemic.
Earlier this month, the CBI asked the IMF for $5 billion emergency funding to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the US pressure, billions of dollars of Iran’s oil money and other funds are held up in several countries at a time when they are urgently needed to fight the novel coronavirus which has killed more than 2,000 Iranians.
On Wednesday, Hemmati said some of Iran’s assets frozen in foreign accounts are likely to be freed up.
“With the efforts of the Foreign Ministry and the Central Bank, some of the country’s frozen assets are likely to be released,” he told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Tehran Wednesday.
“According to the information we have, these resources will probably be released,” he added.
Iran is unable to buy medicine and medical equipment due to US economic sanctions which the Trump administration has obstinately been tightening despite international calls to suspend them.
The UN rights chief called Tuesday for any sanctions imposed on countries like Iran to be “urgently re-evaluated”, saying they are heightening the health risks for millions of people and weakening the global effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“At this crucial time, both for global public health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended,” Michelle Bachelet said in a statement.