Iran’s local currency fell to a new record low against the dollar of 501.3 thousand riyals on Monday, while market participants see no end in sight to the sanctions.
Data published by the “Bonbast” website on the Internet – which collects up-to-date data from Iranian exchange centers – showed that the local currency exceeded the moral level of 500,000 riyals against the dollar.
And due to an inflation rate of about 50%, Iranians are seeking safe havens to preserve their savings by buying dollars and other hard currencies or buying gold, indicating more headwinds that will face the Iranian riyal, according to Archyde.com.
Over the past six months, the Iranian currency has lost about 60 percent of its value, according to the website.
Meanwhile, the central bank said it would open a new foreign exchange center to facilitate access to it and increase the amounts of official transfers.
“The exchange rate specified in that exchange will be the market exchange rate. This should free it from speculation factors that do not reflect our assessment of the country’s financial position,” the governor of the Iranian Central Bank, Mohammad Reza Farzin, added, in statements to state television today, Monday.
Observers in Iran believe that the reason for the riyal’s loss of value is due to its impact on international developments, especially developments in the nuclear file and tension with the West, which is directly reflected in the increase in foreign sanctions and the restrictions on the Iranian economy.