Iran’s Rial Rebounds From Record Lows

Date: 28 November 2018 - 21:40

News ID: ۶۰۱۷۷

TEHRAN (Press TV) - The Iranian rial is gaining some respite from its record losses against the dollar after the country had to take drastic measures to arrest the national currency’s downward spiral.
The dollar was being offered at 119,000 rials on the unofficial market Tuesday and Wednesday, compared to 120,000 rials earlier on Monday, Iranian news agencies reported.
New forex policies and restrictions on banking transactions and purchases of dollars as well as a ban on money send-outs by unauthorized foreign exchange shops were the main reasons rial rallied.
Dealers were quoted as saying that the number of dollar sellers has grown vastly in recent days, driving down its value fast.
On Tehran’s Ferdowsi Street where exchange houses have mushroomed in recent years, each dollar was cited at 119,000 rials on Tuesday, while a gold coin dropped to 38 million rials from 40 million rials in recent weeks.
Central Bank governor Abdulnaser Hemmati on Wednesday signaled that the rial will continue to strengthen as he advised against savings in foreign currencies by the public.
"I have already advised my fellow Iranians not to invest in foreign exchange as assets. Those speculating in foreign exchange will likely be making losses but my advice is to ordinary people not to enter this sector,” he said.
Iran’s currency began to slump last December when the government cut interest rates on saving bank accounts.
What initially appeared to be a controlled depreciation of the rial in a bid to boost local production and exports got out of hand later when the US announced pulling out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposing sanctions on Tehran.
The government’s later measures, including capping the official rate at around 45,000 rials to the dollar, exacerbated the slump because this was only available for a small group of importers and businesses.