Iran Unifies Market Exchange Rates to Halt Currency Slide: CBI Chief
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Valiollah Seif said the country has unified its official and open market exchange rates as the Iranian rial plunged to an all-time low against the US dollar.
Speaking at an open session of the parliament on Tuesday morning, Seif explained about the currency slide in recent days, during which the US dollar jumped up to 60,000 rials in the open market in Tehran while it was worth 36,000 rials in mid-September.
He pointed to the administration’s policy to unify the official and open market exchange rates, saying that the price of the US dollar would be 42,000 rials in both markets as of Tuesday.
However, the price is not going to be unchanging, Seif said, adding that changes of 5 to 6 percent in the price over a year would be natural.
The Iranian official further pointed to his meeting with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei about the currency slide on Monday and said during the session, he put forward a plan to replace the dollar with euro in foreign exchanges, which was welcomed by the Leader.
The Iranian rial hit a record low against the US dollar for the second time in two months in the past few days, prompting some currency dealers to suspend trading.
