Dollar in Iran Reaches 16,000 Tomans; Currency Dealers Refuse to Sell Foreign Exchange

Iran’s free currency market on Monday, the second day of Mehr, witnessed another increase in foreign currency prices, with the US dollar reaching 16,000 tomans, and some currency dealers are refusing to sell foreign exchange.

According to ISNA news agency, the dollar rate on Monday reached 15,900 tomans and gold coins were traded at 4,740,000 tomans.

Also, based on prices published on currency and gold websites, the US dollar price reached 16,000 tomans and the euro increased by around 1,000 tomans to 18,500 tomans.

The British pound also crossed the 20,000 toman mark.

Some websites also reported that the dollar price decreased to 15,800 tomans in the final hours of Monday.

The US dollar had crossed the 15,000 toman threshold on Sunday.

According to analysts, the attack on the Armed Forces parade in Ahvaz, the failure of Iran-Europe negotiations, ambiguity in the approval of anti-money laundering bills, the reduction of Iran’s oil exports, and the UN Security Council meeting chaired by Donald Trump this week are factors that have driven up the currency price.

Meanwhile, ISNA news agency, citing an unnamed currency dealer, reported that the dollar rate could reach as high as 25,000 tomans.

However, another currency dealer has predicted that the dollar price will reach 18,000 tomans within the next two to three days, after which it will begin to decline and remain between 12,000 to 14,000 tomans in the coming months.

This dealer claimed that the government will lower the currency rate in the coming weeks by announcing a 26 percent deposit profit rate for banks.

The Central Bank has reduced the bank interest rate from 24 percent to 15 percent since 2015. In recent days, reports have been published about the possibility of increasing the bank interest rate.

Only “Four Billion Dollars” Offered in NIMA System

While Hassan Rouhani’s government programs have failed in recent months to control currency prices, the Central Bank Governor said that the currency market is “nearly managed and the trend is moving toward reducing the currency price.”

Abdolnasser Hemmati, in an interview with the Majlis House website affiliated with the parliament, also announced that out of approximately 23 billion dollars of non-oil exports conducted until September 14, only about four billion dollars have been offered in the NIMA system.

He added: “Methods have been foreseen for the return of export currency to the economy, based on which exporters must officially conduct imports or place the currency at the service of the economy through the NIMA network or any other method determined by the Central Bank.”

Mr. Hemmati did not provide further clarification about the approximately 19 billion dollars of currency which, according to him, did not enter the economy.

Meanwhile, according to ISNA news agency, from June 27 to September 10, only 1 billion, 467 million, and 932 thousand euros were offered in the secondary market, of which petrochemical companies’ share was 73 percent.

Previously, some analysts had considered the non-entry of petrochemical currency into the market as one of the main reasons for the currency price increase alongside the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA.

The government acknowledged the failure of the single exchange rate policy in June and created the “secondary market” for currency, which means a triple exchange rate system.

In this plan, exporters who previously did not submit their currency to the “Unified Currency System” (NIMA), submit it at an agreed rate to be allocated to non-essential goods that are not covered by the 4,200 toman exchange rate.

A group of critics of the secondary currency market say that petrochemical, steel, and other “quasi-state” companies that are the main suppliers of the secondary market currency derive the most profit from this market.

According to these critics, while these companies benefit from energy subsidies and other exemptions, they offer the currency from exports at high prices in the secondary market.

Source: Radio Farda