CBI Says Currency Fears Are Over

Financial Tribune-The Central Bank of Iran has managed to control foreign exchange rates and promote a relative stability in the forex market despite a turbulent season that saw the rial drop to historic lows against the dollar, the bank's deputy for economic affairs said.

"In [the Iranian months of] Azar (November 21-December 20) and Dey (December 21-January 19), the currency market witnessed fluctuations that were mainly caused by [a peak in] seasonal trips, but the CBI brought back stability to the market," Peyman Qorbani was quoted as saying by IBENA on Sunday.

The official, who was speaking at a press conference, added that Arba'een pilgrimages to neighboring Iraq and the US presidential vote impacted the currency market, "but we were eventually able to control the fluctuations".

The Iranian foreign exchange market, with its dual official and unofficial market rates, has had an uneasy season in the final months of 2016 which saw the rial weaken to 41,500 per dollar. It has since strengthened to 40,000 to the dollar and was quoted at 38,100 to the greenback on Sunday.

Qorbani then looked at currency fluctuations of some other countries from July 2013 to January 2017, stating that the Turkish lira had registered 90.8% volatility, while figures for the Norwegian krone, the Canadian dollar and the euro stood at 43%, 27% and 3.25% respectively.