Iran currency hits record low, crashing through 50,000 mark

The Iranian rial fell to a record-low yesterday, breaking through the 50,000-to-the-dollar mark for the first time, with analysts blaming uncertainty stemming from Washington, reports AFP.

The rial has lost around a quarter of its value in the past six months to reach 50,860 against the US dollar according to the Financial Information Market, a trusted website for fluctuations on the open market.

The gap with the official rate, which stood at 37,686 yesterday, has continued to widen.

Iran's government took drastic measures last month to stem the decline in the free market rate, arresting foreign exchange dealers, freezing speculators' accounts and raising interest rates, as well as buying up millions of dollars in a bid to lower the price.

But on the streets of Tehran, long queues continued to gather outside foreign exchanges in the build-up to the Nowruz New Year holiday, which is running for another week.

"The issue is psychological rather than economic. There's no reason to buy dollars except in the hope that you can sell them later at a higher rate," said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of the Europe-Iran Forum, a business network.

He said Iranians were reacting to worrying headlines from the United States, where President Donald Trump recently appointed two hardline anti-Iran figures to his administration: Mike Pompeo as secretary of state and John Bolton as national security advisor.

Many analysts believe Trump will pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran when it next comes up for renewal in May, bringing back crippling sanctions.

 

Iran currency hits record low, crashing through 50,000 mark

The Iranian rial fell to a record-low yesterday, breaking through the 50,000-to-the-dollar mark for the first time, with analysts blaming uncertainty stemming from Washington, reports AFP. The rial has lost around a quarter of its value in the past six months to reach 50,860 against the US dollar according to the Financial Information Market, a trusted website for fluctuations on the open market. The gap with the official rate, which stood at 37,686 yesterday, has continued to widen. Irans government took drastic measures last month to stem the decline in the free market rate, arresting foreign exchange dealers, freezing speculators accounts and raising interest rates, as well as buying up millions of dollars in a bid to lower the price. But on the streets of Tehran, long queues continued to gather outside foreign exchanges in the build-up to the Nowruz New Year holiday, which is running for another week. The issue is psychological rather than economic. Theres no reason to buy dollars except in the hope that you can sell them later at a higher rate, said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of the Europe-Iran Forum, a business network. He said Iranians were reacting to worrying headlines from the United States, where President Donald Trump recently appointed two hardline anti-Iran figures to his administration: Mike Pompeo as secretary of state and John Bolton as national security advisor. Many analysts believe Trump will pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran when it next comes up for renewal in May, bringing back crippling sanctions.