BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 23. The residents of Iran’s have withdrawn a total of 60 trillion rials (about $1.42 billion according to the official exchange rate) from the country’s banks for the last 15 days (February 7 through February 21), as a result of the appreciation of foreign currencies against the rial, Secretary of Ardabil Province Banks Committee Davoud Rajabi said, Trend reports citing Donya-e-Eqtesad Newspaper.
In Iran, the official exchange rate is used for the import of some essential products. According to the official exchange rate,$1 equals 42,000 Iranian rials and 1 euro equals 44,613 rials.
Rajabi stressed that residents invested the funds withdrawn from branches of banks in the province in products such as gold coins, foreign currency and cars.
The secretary also noted that withdrawal of funds from banks will create serious problems for banks and they will not be able to create a balance between reserves and expenses.
“Within first 10 months (March 21, 2022 through January 20, 2023), the reserves of bank branches in Ardabil Province amounted to 3.82 quadrillion rials (about $91 billion). This is 38 percent more than the same period last Iranian year,” he said.
In recent months, the national currency of Iran ‘Rial’ has lost its value sharply. Thus, the price of $1 dollar on the black market in Iran varies between 509,000-512,000 rials, while 1 euro varies between 541,000-544,000 rials.
---
Follow the author on Twitter:@BaghishovElnur