Iran plans launch of foreign currency funds

Iran is planning to authorize the launch of foreign-currency fixed-income investment funds, which are designed with the aim of collecting idle foreign-currency resources and financing export-oriented projects.

Funding these projects can lead to an increase in available foreign currency within Iran’s economy – following regulations drafted cooperatively by the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO), the Central Bank of Iran and the Iran Currency and Gold Exchange Center.

The plan was revealed by SEO Investment Funds Supervision Center Head Ali-Akbar Iranshahi in an interview published by the Securities and Exchange News Agency – an online portal covering stock market news in Iran, recognized as the SEO’s official news agency.

These new funds can receive foreign currency in cash or remittances from investors – which will then be placed within Iran in foreign-currency deposits, special foreign-currency deposit certificates, foreign-currency fixed-income securities and discounted foreign-currency letters of credit.

The fund will then use these facilities to finance various export-oriented projects. At the time of redemption, investors will be paid in foreign currency or foreign currency remittances – in accordance with the investor’s request, Ali-Akbar said.

For easy reference, a single specifically-selected foreign currency will be fixed upfront. All receipts, payments and calculations of the fund are to be conducted in that selected currency – which means any currency conversion or revaluation is not applicable to these funds, with income being tax-exempt.

This proposal comes after the SEO revealed that the value of investment by foreign shareholders at the Tehran Stock Exchange and its subsidiary market Fara Bourse had reached nearly US$200 million in the year to July 2025 – up 91% over the previous year to July 2024.

The number of foreign shareholders registered in the two markets had risen by 5.3% to 5,100 – with 3,339 corporate shareholders and 1,709 individual investors.

As an additional incentive to attract foreign capital to these new funds, Iranian authorities will be looking to introduce various incentives for the faster return of foreign currency income generated from exports, said Ali-Akbar.

Trade between Iran and the 27-member EU reached EUR3.1 billion (US$3.64 billion) in the first 10 months of 2025, according to the latest data released by Eurostat. EU exports to Iran totaled EUR2.45 billion (US$2.88 billion) between January and October 2025, while imports from Iran stood at EUR650 million (US$765.24 million).

Iran aims to progressively address this economic imbalance with the EU bloc, which currently has a sizeable trade surplus – from a steady flow concentrated largely in essential goods, industrial equipment and selected consumer products.

Germany remained Iran’s largest European trading partner, accounting for 31% of total Iran-EU trade – particularly machinery, chemicals and industrial components. Other European countries with notable trade links to Iran include Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

Meanwhile, trade between Iran and China reached US$9.09 billion in the January-November 2025 period, down 24% from US$12 billion in the same period of 2024.