Executive Instruction on the Manner of Sale of Banknotes under the Heading of Meeting the Essential Needs (Code 56)

Nouraei & M. Mostafavi Law Offices –April 5,2023-Tehran – The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) has declared the new manner of selling foreign currency banknotes to the applicants.

 In a report released yesterday, the Public Relations Office of CBI stated that the method of sale of forex in the form of banknotes and direct payment of banknotes to the customer had been revised by way of remittance of the banknotes to the applicant’s foreign currency bank account. The related executive Instruction of CBI is as follows:

1- For selling and payment of foreign currencies in the form of banknotes under the heading of Meeting the Essential needs (Code 56), all the banks are obliged to, in compliance with the customers’ request, open a foreign currency interest-free savings deposit account for them without obtaining an initial balance following the relevant regulations. 

Note – Opening an account at the request of the applicant’s proxy is not allowed. 

2- Payment in the form of bank notes from the foreign currency account subject to this Instruction is allowed only to the (principal) beneficiary of the bank account. 

3- The mentioned accounts are only in US dollar/euro currencies originating from the forex banknotes. They will be used to supply banknotes subject to the heading Meeting the Essential Needs (Code 56). 

4- It is possible to withdraw the banknote from the mentioned account only after five working days after remitting the foreign currency to the applicant’s account. After the mentioned period, the banks are obliged to pay the banknotes kept in the accounts subject to this Instruction to the customer upon their request at any time. 

5- The fee for withdrawal from the account in the form of banknotes is equal to 5% of the withdrawal amount. The exchange rate will be similar to the sale rate of dollar/euro banknotes applied in the Electronic Foreign Currency Trading Online System plus one percent on the withdrawal day. 

6- Except for the points specified in this Instruction, receiving any other fees from the customer for providing the services subject to this Instruction is prohibited.

7- The foreign currency account subject to this Instruction should remain open for at least six months. 

8- Note: The minimum balance required for the continuation of the foreign currency accounts subject to this Instruction will be 100 dollars/euro.

In another development, CBI has decreased the forex sale to each person to 2,000 euros (and its equivalence in usd) from the former 5,000 euros.

(Re-publication and usage wholly or partially allowed upon naming the source J. Nouraei & M. Mostafavi Law Offices).