Iranian Rial at New Low, as Central Bank Sells Dollars to Support Currency

Iran's rial continued its decline on Saturday, as the central bank announced an injection of ​up to US$2 billion to support the currency while ‌the economy faces US sanctions and a naval blockade. The US dollar was sold around IRR 2.688 million, up from IRR ​2.632 million on Friday, according to free-market tracking ​website bon-bast.com, while alanchand.com reported IRR 2.695 million ⁠per dollar. State television said state banks began selling ​up to US$2 billion to support the currency, which has ​lost more than half of its value in the past year.

With an inflation rate of more than 70%, life is becoming ever ​tougher for ordinary citizens unable to afford basic ​necessities or rent as a US blockade cuts the state's financial ‌lifeline – ⁠oil exports. Many Iranians seeking safe havens for their savings have been buying dollars, other hard currencies or gold. Mehdi Darabi, an aide to the central bank's governor ​on foreign exchange ​affairs, blamed ⁠the decline of the rial partly on what he said were false predictions ​by US officials of the collapse of ​the Iranian ⁠economy. "It is suggested that the Iranian economy is about to crash... The enemy is using this to affect ⁠the ​exchange rate of our currency," ​Darabi told state TV, adding that the current fall of the rial ​was temporary. - Reuters