Baku, Azerbaijan, April 11
By Khalid Kazimov – Trend:
Following the recent plunge in the value of the Iranian rial, President Hassan Rouhani has ruled out the possibility of a surge in the prices of staple products and medicines.
“Within the recent currency policy of the government, there will be no surge in the prices of staple products and medicines,” Tasnim news agency quoted the president as saying on Wednesday.
The Iranian national currency, rial, gave up some 20 percent against the US dollar in two weeks. Many in Iran over the past weeks rushed to hedge against depreciation of their assets amid fears over an imminent collapse of the nuclear deal and the return of economic sanctions.
First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri on Monday evening announced the government's decision to unify the country’s official and open market exchange rates.
Jahangiri, after an emergency cabinet meeting, appeared on TV to announce that from Tuesday the price of the US dollar would be 42,000 rials in both markets, and for all business activities.
The decision was made following recent fluctuations in the country after the rial declined to an all-time low and fell to 6,460 by Monday afternoon on the unregulated currency market.
Psychological behavior, growth in demand, getting assets out of the country, political and diplomatic tensions, as well as security concerns and risk of military confrontation, are believed to be among the main reasons behind the sharp plunge of the value of Iran’s national currency.
Back in February, the US dollar for the first time breached 50,000 Iranian rials when police in collaboration with the Central Bank of Iran arrested at least 90 currency traders, whom it blamed for deliberately driving the devaluation in order to profit from it.