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Iranian minister calls on security forces to control Forex market

Iran Materials 2 October 2012 14:50 (UTC +04:00)
Iran's Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari has called on the security forces to intervene in the open foreign exchange market and control the Forex fluctuations
Iranian minister calls on security forces to control Forex market

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 2/ Trend, D.Khatinoglu/

Iran's Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari has called on the security forces to intervene in the open foreign exchange market and control the Forex fluctuations, Fars reported.

Ghazanfari said that Forex's price fluctuations in the country is not just an economic matter, but cultural, security and politic issue.

Iran's national currency, the rial, has lost its 17 per cent of value of yesterday. A USD was sold at 29,700 rials in the morning, but sharply increased to 35, 500 rials in the evening, while other foreign currencies' price increased from 12 to 18 per cent during Monday.

Iran has repeatedly faced a drop in the rial's value since mid-last year. The country established a Forex Trade Centre on September 23 to prevent a drop in the rial's value against foreign currencies, providing the USD to importers with a price fixed at two per cent below the open market's figures. However, during this period the USD rate in Iran's open market increased from 25,500 to 35,550 which indicated a 30 per cent drop in the rial's value during one week.

Ghazanfari said that more security forces will have a role in controlling the open Forex market.

Earlier the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said that the IRGC would intervene in the open Forex market to battle against illegal profiteers.

Half the Iranian government's annual revenues and 80 per cent of its exports fall to crude oil.

It seems that western sanctions intended to curb Iran's oil revenues have affected the economy which relies mostly on oil crude income.

The U.S. and EU imposed bilateral sanctions over Iran on June 28 and July 1 t respectively to force its sensitive nuclear activities. U.S. sanctions targeted Iran's Central Bank, which is responsible for the transaction of exported barrel revenues. EU sanctions also banned Iranian crude oil import to EU members and also the covering of insurance services for tankers that carry Iranian oil.

Last week, Iran's Vice Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad-Reza Bahonar announced that Iran's oil exports have dropped to around one million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of solar year (started on March 19) on average, while this figure as of June and July has fallen to around 800,000 barrels per day.

Iran's oil export volume in 2011 was 2.3 million barrels per day, 18 per cent of this being sold to European countries.

The U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Monday that a precipitous drop in Iran's currency, the rial, shows that sanctions are cutting "deeper and deeper" into its economy.

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