Iran's USD allocations for medicine imports: numbers don't add up
The Spokesman of Iran's Forex Center Samad Karimi said that about $3.1 billion has been allocated to medicine equipments and pharmaceutical imports during current solar year, which started on March 19, Mehr News Agency reported on Thursday. Karimi said that allocated value indicates 32 percent growth compared to last the solar year. "About $900 million through common sales and $2.2 billion through agent banks were allocated for importing medical needs," he said. He went on to say that $2.1 billion of total this value has been allocated during last 6 months. Karimi's statement came as Iranian government has been criticized due to shortage of vital drugs in the country, increasing the medicine price and avoiding to supply USD for pharmaceutical imports. Reportedly, Iran's drug shortage partly occurred because of the U.S. and EU sanctions on Iran's banking sector, which has led to cuts of payment transactions. For instance, the U.S. Commerce Department statist