Iran has been able to appropriate 31 percent more foreign currency for imports in the past 10 months amid sanctions, the chief of the central bank said Sunday .

Ali Salehabadi, chairman of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) told local television that from March 2021 the government has been able to provide $48.6 billion for imports amid US sanctions on the country’s oil exports and international banking. This amount from March 2020 to March 2021 was $37 billion, Salehabadi said.

Iran has boosted illicit oil exports since late 2020, although the exact quantity of shipments and destinations remain a state secret because of the risk of US retaliation against third parties. Some estimates say exports have exceeded 700,000 barrels per day compared with 200,000 in 2019-2020 when the United States declared full sanctions.

President Joe Biden’s administration that decided to change Donald Trump’s decision of leaving the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, entered negotiations last April to restore the deal. Reports say that the administration has not strongly enforced the sanctions, allowing Iran to boost crude sales.

The central bank chief expressed satisfaction with the “reasonable” level of oil and other exports in recent months. Iran’s battered currency that fell sharply in December has recouped more than 10 percent of its losses since mid-January.