New Delhi: Five months after the RBI scrapped a long-standing mechanism to pay for crude oil imports from Iran, the oil-rich nation on Monday expressed hope that the issue would be resolved by Tuesday.
"We are optimistic for resolution of oil payment crisis. We hope to resolve the oil payment issue by tomorrow," Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Iran Hamid Borhani told reporters after meeting Finance Ministry officials in New Delhi.
The meeting, chaired by Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) R Gopalan, was also attended by Iranian Ambassador to India Seyed Mahdi Nabizadeh.
The bank official said that another round of meeting will take place on Tuesday.
India is reportedly mulling using multiple currencies, including the rupee, to pay for crude oil imported from Iran.
Besides the rupee, the euro may also be used to pay for a part of the 12 million barrels of oil imported from Iran every month. Some payments, according to sources, could be routed through countries like Turkey.
Iran is the second largest supplier after Saudi Arabia.
The problem began after RBI on December 23, 2010, did away with the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism for paying for Iranian crude oil imports, which make up for 12 per cent of the nation's oil needs.
India had in February started making euro payments through an Iranian bank based in Germany. But under US pressure, Germany soon stopped accepting money from India for onward transfer to Hamburg-based EIH Bank.
Alternate mechanisms like paying through Dubai or Turkey-based banks were also being explored.
Comments
0 comment