(Wall Street Journal) Benoit Faucon and Neena Rai - The prospect of stiffer sanctions has caused the value of Iran's currency against the dollar to plunge, and made dollars for purchasing imports scarce. "Your [imported] goods may not be sanctioned. But paying for them is in effect sanctioned...because of the difficulty of sending money out of Iran," said Mostafa Pakzad, chairman of the Tehran-based Pakzad Consulting Corp. Such efforts to block Iran's ability to make international payments have convinced some global shippers, traders, bankers and insurers to immediately end their dealings with Iran. Most palm oil deliveries from Malaysia have been stopped. India has delayed deliveries of tea and premium basmati rice after buyers in Iran were unable to transfer payments. Ukraine, which covers 70% of Iranian corn needs, is refusing any additional supply.
2012-02-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive