Currency rates jumped against the rial on Saturday in Tehran market amid rising demand and apparently a shortage in supply.
The US dollar was traded between 151,000 to 153,000 rials, the highest in the past nine months. The greenback climbed as high as 155,000 rials during the session only to dip down later in the day.
Bank-affiliated exchange shops, however, sold the greenback at 145,300 rials. The moneychangers function as the Central Bank of Iran's arm for market control.
The dollar marked at least 4.2% growth compared to Thursday and was up 7.4% over the past seven days.
Euro was traded at 164,500 rials. Melli Exchange, affiliated to Bank Melli Iran, tagged the currency at 155,800 rials. The pound sterling gained 8.55% to reach 201,790 rials.
Turkish lira, Emirati dirham and the Chinese yuan recorded nearly 7% increase on the first day of trading week.
The new upsurge in currency rates is seen largely as a consequence of the decision by Financial Action Task Force on Friday to place Iran on its blacklist.
Fears arising from the decision and angst over further devaluation of the rial hurled many to moneychangers and currency dealers, pushing up dollar demand unseen in a long time.
The global anti-money laundering watchdog blacklisted Iran after Tehran failed to comply with international anti-terrorism funding norms. “The FATF fully lifts the suspension of counter-measures and calls on its members and urges all jurisdictions to apply effective counter-measures,” the watchdog said in a statement in Paris.
This came after Iran failed to meet the deadline set the by the FATF at its last meeting last October to fully comply with FATF norms. However, if Iran ratifies the Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions, in line with the FATF standards, the FATF will decide on the next steps, including whether to suspend countermeasures.
In response to the FATF decision, Abdolnasser Hemmati, the CBI boss, had said that the decision would not pose any major obstacle to Iran’s foreign trade and stability in currency rates.
Gold Prices
Gold coins also experienced significant increase on Saturday. The Emami gold coin gained 7.66%, or 4.09 million rials, to hit an all-time-high of 57.47 million rials.
Bahar Azadi gold coin also gained 6.7% to reach 56.77 million rials. The biggest daily growth was recorded for 18-karat gold. Each gram of 18-karat gold hiked about 11% and traded at 6.1 million rials on Saturday.
Ebrahim Mohammad Vali, Tehran Gold and Jewelry Unions' head, said the FATF decision is the most influential factor leading to the jump in gold prices.
"The FATF measure is having an impact to some extent, but at the moment the market is mostly influenced by the steep increase on the demand side and growth in international gold prices," he said.
Gold jumped more than 1.5% on Friday to its highest level in seven years as investors rushed to the safe haven metal due to concerns over global economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus, Reuters reported.
Spot gold rose 1.7% to $1,646.89 per ounce after hitting its highest level since Feb. 13, 2013, at $1,648.75 earlier in the session. US gold futures settled up 1.7% at $1,648.80.
