Iran denies IMF access to certain classified economic data due to U.S. sanctions

TEHRAN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's top banker said Iran cannot provide the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the access to certain of its classified economic data because of the U.S. "unilateral and illegal" sanctions, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported Friday.

Mohammad Reza Farzin, governor of the Central Bank of Iran, made the remarks in what he called a "constructive" meeting with the IMF's Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Washington, D.C., where Farzin also expressed satisfaction with the improvement of Iran's relations with the organization following a period of suspended cooperation.

Iran will still provide the IMF with the required reports of its economic situation and the effectiveness of its monetary and financial policies, he noted.

Farzin expressed hope that Iran's policies would push down its inflation to 30 percent in the current Iranian calendar year which will end in March 2024.

Meanwhile, the IMF's managing director said the meeting marks the resumption of the interaction between the Iranian central bank with the UN financial agency.

This was the first meeting between a governor of the Iranian central bank and the IMF in decades.