Azerbaijan, Baku, May 27/Trend M. Moezzi
Iran's Minister of Economic and Financial Affairs, Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini rejected the possibility that the second round of nuclear negotiations in Baghdad could have renewed his country's foreign currency markets.
Hosseini contended that the measures taken by the government since last year have stabilized the foreign exchange rate and continue preventing fluctuations (Iran's solar year ended on March 19).
Another factor contributing to a stable currency exchange rate, in Hosseini's opinion, is the government's support for manufacturers.
On May 22, the dollar cost 16,600 rials. Yesterday, May 26, the foreign exchange rate was 17,700 rials to the dollar.
This winter, worries about Iran's economy and the effects of sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies drove Iranians toward the foreign currency and gold coin markets pushing their prices to all-time highs.
Starting in late December Iran's official currency, the rial, began to lose its value compared to the U.S. dollar at a precipitous rate. The value of one U.S. dollar went from 11,000 rials in the last days of December to as much as 23,000 rials on the black market in early February. The Iranian Central Bank responded to the rial's 40 percent devaluation by announcing an official exchange rate of 12,260 rials to the dollar. The cheaper currency was sharply restricted to only exporters and travelers (who were limited in how much money they could take outside the country). The government then tried to force currency traders to do business at the Central Bank's rate. Its efforts failed.