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White House appointments shake Iran’s currency market

Business Materials 27 March 2018 20:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 27

By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:

Unlike the US dollar which is collecting pace and has become very strong, higher against all major currencies, the Iranian rial has fallen to a record-low.

In an unprecedented development, the rate of US dollar against the national currency broke through 50,000 rials in the early days of the new Iranian calendar year, which started on March 20.

In the meantime, other foreign currencies hit new records in Tehran’s free market. Exchangers in Tehran restrictedly offered US dollar at about 48,000 rials just about a week ago.

Over the past week, the US dollar saw a rise of 3.7 percent, with euro surging 5.7 percent, and the pound sterling 1.36 percent on free-market rates in Iran.

While a group of traders describe the shortage of foreign currency in the market as a main reason behind the surging rates, others believe the possible failure of the nuclear deal and an expected slap back of international sanctions against Tehran following the appointment of two anti-Iran figures at the White House - Mike Pompeo as secretary of state and John Bolton as national security adviser - appear to be among the main reasons behind the skyrocketing rates.

In the meantime, rumors are flying around the Iranians who transfer their assets to abroad due to fear of a possible war between Iran and the US.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier advised his fellow people to refrain from purchasing foreign currencies in order to protect their assets.

“My advice to the people is to refrain from stepping in this risky path [currency market] for their own good. There are much better ways for people to benefit from their money and assets,” Rouhani told a press conference in Tehran aired live by the public broadcaster on Feb. 6.

The US dollar over the last fiscal year (started March 20, 2017) surged against the Iranian national currency by at least 25 percent.

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