Another record for the dollar; the Central Bank says today’s exchange rate, minus inflation, is similar to 1397

🔸 The decline in the value of Iran’s national currency continued on Saturday, 11 Mehr, and the price of the US dollar in the free market for the first time crossed the 270,000-toman mark.

🔸 Morteza Darabi, deputy head of the Central Bank in currency affairs, said on Saturday evening on Iran’s official television that the recent rise in the exchange rate is “temporary” and added that if the effect of inflation is taken into account, the real exchange rate is now in the same range as in the years 1397 and 1399.

🔸 Referring to the fact that the dollar rate at the height of the fluctuations in 1397 had reached about 18 to 19 thousand tomans, he said that with the market’s, as he put it, “cooling of excitement and unrest,” the exchange rate in that period saw a significant drop.

🔸 The Central Bank official did not provide more details about this method of calculation and comparison, but at the same time he added that part of the recent increase in the exchange rate is due to “precautionary demand, speculation, delays in the entry of goods, and delays in the return of export currency,” and said these factors have caused the growth of the exchange rate to outpace inflation.

🔸 In another part of his remarks, the Central Bank deputy accused US officials of “signal-selling” about Iran’s economy and said statements by officials of the US government about the likelihood of the collapse of Iran’s economy are made with the aim of influencing the market and exchange-rate levels.

🔸 In the end, he described the current rise in the exchange rate as “temporary.”

🔸 Read the full report on the Radio Farda website.