Unprecedented attack by parliamentarians on the head of the central bank
Mohammadreza Pourabrahimi
The story is that last week, the Economic Commission of the Parliament held a meeting regarding “examination of problems and solutions to facilitate the export of agricultural products”. In addition to parliament members, a group of senior managers and representatives of private organizations were present in this meeting of the Minister of Economy.
As Purabrahimi says, apart from the written invitation, he had talked to the head of the central bank on the phone about the meeting a few days ago. But in the end, Farzin himself did not attend the meeting, nor did any of his deputies. As it appears from the text of Pura Brahimi’s letter to the President, Farzin or his deputies did not appear in the meeting for the economic commission of the parliament, as he called it a “new heresy” in his letter to Ebrahim Raisi. However, the story did not end here.
According to Pourabrahimi, in that meeting, “the Deputy Minister of Jihad of Agriculture, Mr. Dr. Peymanpak, announced that recently, in the meeting of the Government’s Foreign Exchange Committee, with the presence of Mr. Dr. Mokhbar, the First Vice President, the issue of allocating currency from the export of agricultural products to the import of cars was agreed upon and It will be announced and implemented soon.” The chairman of the parliament’s economic commission was the first person to spread this news to the media. On Thursday, September 30, he told the media that it is possible to import cars and their parts with currency obtained from agricultural exports. On the same day, the central bank’s denial was published on the Ibena website.
Pourabrahimi called the central bank’s denial “irresponsible”, “out of the ordinary”. He said: “It is very unfortunate and surprising that instead of attending this meeting and solving exporters’ problems, the central bank is trying to marginalize and create tension in the relationship between the parliament and the respected government with this irresponsible behavior.” The Chairman of the Parliament Committee, of course, added in a threatening sarcasm: “At the same time, the case of the violations of the current officials of the Central Bank, at the request of a large number of representatives of the Islamic Council, in the form of applying Article (234) of the internal regulations of the Islamic Council, is on the agenda of the Economic Commission for referral. It belongs to the judicial system of the country.”
Following the publication of Poura Brahimi’s letter to the President, the first unofficial reaction of the Central Bank can be seen as the tweet of the editor of the official media of Central Bank – Ibna. Mehdi Mehrpour wrote on Twitter: “Question: Should the country’s currency policies be determined in the Central Bank or in the Parliament’s Economic Commission?”
The conflict between the Chairman of the Economic Commission of the Majlis and the Governor of the Central Bank has an older history. Last year, after reading the foreign exchange report of the Economic Commission of the Majlis in the hall, Farzin called it “confounding the minds of the public and economic activists of the country”. Now that Pora Brahimi says that “the patience of the revolutionary parliament has its limit” and the matter has reached an open letter, we should wait to see which side will end this conflict in the end.
The following is the full text of the letter of the Chairman of the Parliament’s Economic Commission to the President today, Monday, October 3:
Basma Ta’ala
Hazrat Hojjat al-Islam and the Muslims, Mr. Dr. Raisi
Dear President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Hello
Respectfully, as you know, managing the foreign exchange market is one of the most important priorities of Iran’s economy. Considering the continuation of the negative trade balance, despite all the efforts made, the need to facilitate exports, especially non-oil exports, is essential to improve the country’s trade balance. In this regard, paying attention to the export capacity of the agricultural sector and its foreign exchange is of particular importance. Considering the favorable situation of this year’s production of agricultural products, especially pistachios, which is estimated to be around 220 thousand tons, it is important and necessary to take special decisions to facilitate the export and exchange of these products. Based on this, last week, the Economic Commission of the Islamic Council, in line with its inherent duties, held a specialized meeting on the topic of examining the problems and solutions to facilitate the export of agricultural products. In this meeting, which was held in the presence of representatives of the Islamic Council, the honorable Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, and a group of senior government managers (unjustified absence of the head of the Central Bank) and representatives of private sector organizations, important and fundamental problems related to the export of agricultural products to The special pistachio product was raised by the representatives of the private sector in the three sectors of providing working capital for export products, facilitating the issuance of standard certificates and facilitating the settlement of foreign exchange obligations. Due to the special importance of the issue of settlement of foreign currency obligations of exporters in the agricultural sector, a few days ago I negotiated by phone with the head of the Central Bank, Mr. Dr. Farzin, the time and date of this joint meeting was finalized and a written invitation was also sent, but unfortunately And despite the presence of all the government sector invitees, especially the Honorable Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, as well as the private sector invitees, in a new innovation, neither they nor the deputies of the Central Bank did not attend the meeting, and therefore, the topics of the meeting related to currency issues with Qaim’s opinion Honorable Minister of Agricultural Jihad, Directors of Iran Trade Development Organization and finally Honorable Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance.
Mr. President, in this meeting, the Deputy Minister of Jihad Agriculture, Mr. Peymanpak, announced that recently in the meeting of the government’s foreign exchange committee, with the presence of Mr. Mokhbar, the first vice president, the issue of allocating currency from the export of agricultural products to the import of cars was agreed. It will be announced and implemented soon, and the directors of the Iran Trade Development Organization stated in the meeting that the import of auto parts has also been included in the foreign currency allocation agreements resulting from the export of agricultural products. Despite the fact that the mentioned issues were raised by the representatives of the government in the presence of the Honorable Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance and the basis for summarizing the currency issues in this meeting, the central bank, in an irresponsible action and out of the usual routine of relations between the parliament and the government, proceeded to issue a statement against the economic commission of the parliament. and denied the contents presented by the government representatives in this meeting in the media space of the country. It is very unfortunate and surprising that instead of attending this meeting and solving exporters’ problems and helping to improve the negative trade balance of the country (six billion dollars negative trade balance in the first six months of 1402) with this irresponsible behavior following marginalization and creating The tension in the relationship between the parliament and the government is respected, and this is while the case of the violations of the current officials of the central bank, at the request of a large number of representatives of the Islamic Council, in the form of applying Article (234) of the internal regulations of the Islamic Council, is on the agenda of the Economic Commission for reference to It is the judicial system of the country.
Dear Mr. President, as stated, the conclusion of the Economic Commission of the Parliament is an exact reflection of the statements of the government representatives, and it is not clear what the central bank is denying. Undoubtedly, this multi-voice in currency management from the government is not for the good of the country and a decision should be made for it immediately. Of course, these irresponsible actions in the current management of the Central Bank are precedents, and in this regard, you must remember that at the end of last year, after reading the Economic Commission’s foreign exchange report in the public hall of the Islamic Council, in a letter to the head of the legislative branch in The brazen statement of the expert report of this commission and the opinion of the Research Center of the Islamic Council in the scientific and empirical analysis of the currency market and the provision of specialized solutions related to the management of the currency market are considered to be the concern of the public and economic activists of the country, which definitely such comments and unwise actions of the Central Bank with The interactive approach of your Excellency’s government is in clear contradiction.
Mr. President, with special respect to your Excellency and the quality of the government’s executive team, you definitely acknowledge that the continued mismanagement and imprudence of the Central Bank in such cases is not in the best interest of the holy system of the Islamic Republic, and the patience of the Revolutionary Assembly in the face of these insolences has a limit, and certainly the commission In line with its duties and missions to support the people and economic activists, the parliament’s economy will not fall short of national interests, despite these targeted destructions against the parliament. What is certain is that this commission considers its legal actions in decisively dealing with these destructions as its protection duty and the consequences are the responsibility of the central bank.
It is hoped that in view of the importance of the matter, while giving a serious warning to the officials of the central bank due to these improper actions, the approvals of the government’s foreign exchange committee to resolve the problems of exporting agricultural products to improve the country’s negative trade balance will be communicated as soon as possible.
Mohammad Reza Pourabrahimi, Chairman of the Economic Commission of the Islamic Council