Iran fixes dollar rate to stem rial fall

Tehran, Iran (4E) – Iran’s central bank has ordered money traders to sell the dollar for $26,000 rials and buy it at $25,000 rials in a bid to stop the currency from further losing its value.

The move was in response to the rial’s latest devaluation last week when its value in the open market hit 37,500 to the U.S. dollar.

The Money Changers’ Association, which is controlled by the central bank, imposed the new rates on Saturday. The new rate is hoped to restore 25 percent of the rial’s value. On Wednesday, the rial lost 40 percent of its value from trading.

Reports from Tehran said local money changers are not complying with the new rates with traders secretly selling a dollar for 30,200 rials in the black market. Others are not telling their rates or suspended selling dollar to avoid being arrested by police.

The government ordered a crackdown against dollar speculators last week in reaction to the latest devaluation of the rial.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has blamed the international sanctions against Iran to the collapse of the rial which raised inflation hitting importers and citizens studying abroad. His critics blamed the fall of the rial to Tehran’s faulty monetary policies.

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