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All tagged currency
◢ Iran’s battered currency is starting to recover in the unregulated market as government policies to defend it against U.S. sanctions take effect. The central bank sought ways to protect the currency with measures that include setting up a government-run foreign-exchange platform known as NIMA to quell the black market and controlling interest rates offered by lenders.
◢ The trial has started in an Iranian court for 13 petrochemical industry executives charged with embezzling EUR 6.6 billion USD 7.4 billion) in one of the nation’s biggest corruption cases, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
◢ Iran's intelligence ministry said Monday it had arrested 11 "economic disruptors" who misappropriated some USD 400 million earmarked for essential goods and smuggled the money out of the country. Authorities have been cracking down on those seeking to exploit the collapsing rial, which has lost around half its value against the dollar this year, in part due to the return of US sanctions.
◢ Iran's supreme leader on Thursday warned against the spread of pessimism in the country, as people face mounting economic woes after the imposition of US sanctions. Addressing the Assembly of Experts, an elected body of high-ranking clerics tasked with choosing the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for people's problems not to be overstated.
◢ The Iranian rial hit another all-time low against the US dollar on Monday in spite of central bank efforts to stem the decline. The rial has lost around 15 percent of its value on the open market in the past three days, bottoming at 128,500 to the dollar by Monday evening, according to Bonbast.com, which monitors Iran's rates.
◢ With hotels facing mass cancellations, Iraqis in the holy city of Najaf are being hit hard by US sanctions on neighboring Iran, which have forced cash-strapped pilgrims to stay home. At the city's edge, surrounded by mosaic-covered walls and topped by a golden dome, sits the shrine of Imam Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed and a revered figure among Shiite Muslims.
◢ Iran gave its most explicit rejection yet of talks with the United States on Saturday, and accused Washington of an "addiction to sanctions" over its latest spat with Turkey. The US reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran on Tuesday following its May withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement, dealing a heavy blow to the already troubled economy. US President Donald Trump has offered talks on a "more comprehensive deal" but Iran has baulked at negotiating under the pressure of sanctions and has instead leant on its increasingly close ties with fellow US sanctions targets Turkey and Russia.
◢ Migrant workers squeezed into battered taxis pull into the Four Seasons of Freedom hotel in western Afghanistan, part of a wave of Afghans forced to leave Iran after a currency implosion wiped out their earnings. A record 442,344 Afghans have voluntarily returned or been deported from Iran this year as looming US sanctions—which began to be reimposed this week—fueled a run on the rial and spurred inflation.
◢ Iranians are hunkering down for the return of US sanctions on Monday with a run on gold and hard currency as they scramble to protect their savings, and sporadic protests over the already troubled economy. State news agencies reported "scattered protests" of a few hundred people on Thursday in the cities of Shiraz, Ahvaz, Mashhad and Karaj, which police had brought under control. Videos posted on social media—whose authenticity could not be verified—have shown days of demonstrations in Iran's third city Isfahan and minor protests in the capital on Thursday night.
◢ With its currency plummeting ahead of the reimposition of US sanctions, Iran has responded with dozens of arrests and claims of an enemy conspiracy, but also signs of a push to confront corruption. The Iranian rial has lost almost two-thirds of its value since the start of the year, and 20 percent in just two days since the weekend, hitting a record-low of 119,000 to the dollar.
◢ Iran's currency hit a record low on Sunday of 100,000 rials to the dollar amid a deepening economic crisis and the imminent return of full US sanctions. The unofficial rate stood at 102,000 rials by midday, according to Bonbast, one of the most reliable sites for tracking the Iranian currency. The rate was confirmed by a trader who spoke on condition of anonymity to AFP.
◢ The United States is increasingly isolated in its move to reimpose sanctions on Tehran after quitting the international nuclear deal, President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday, vowing to resist American "plots." Many importers and exporters have complained they do not have enough currency to enable trade with foreign countries. But Rouhani said Iran would ensure exporters and importers have "the necessary currency."
◢ Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Tuesday for national unity to preserve "confidence" and "hope" in the face of unrest over the Islamic republic's mounting economic woes. Rouhani's remarks came as vendors in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, a traditional area of support for Iran's leadership, continued a rare strike that began Monday over the collapse of the rial on foreign exchange markets.
◢ Traders in the Iranian capital's Grand Bazaar held a rare protest strike Monday against the collapse of the rial on the foreign exchange market as demonstrators also took to the streets. At a crossroads in central Tehran, police fired tear gas at dozens of youths shouting slogans and throwing stones, an AFP photographer said.
◢ Confused and frustrated Iranians flocked to exchange offices on Tuesday after the government fixed a new rate for the dollar, only to find there were none to buy. Some predict the exchangers will find ways to fiddle the system to get round the new fixed rate, even though Vice-President Eshagh Jahangiri warned this would be considered smuggling.
◢ Iran's currency fell more than six percent against the dollar on Sunday, hitting another record-low, as fears of a US withdrawal from the nuclear deal continued to drive speculation. The rial reached 55,200 to the dollar at the close on the open market—a drop of nearly a third in the past six months.
◢ The Iranian rial fell to a record-low on Monday, breaking through the 50,000-to-the-dollar mark for the first time, with analysts blaming uncertainty stemming from Washington. 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.
