The Central Bank of Iran circulated a new 100,000-rial banknote with four zeroes having a light color signifying the CBI's plan to remove four zeros from the national currency.
According to the state-owned news agency, IRNA, the new banknote has been printed in new dimensions and with improved security features.
The CBI has said it has plans to redenominate the rial by shaving off four zeros and changing the monetary unit from the rial to the popularly used ‘toman’.
As part of rules under the ‘Reforming Monetary and Banking Law’ passed in May "Iran’s currency unit will be toman and each toman will be worth 10,000 rials and 100 qerans”.
The law stipulates a maximum two-year “transitional period” during which both the toman and rial will be legal tender.
The CBI's governor Abdolnasser Hemmati has publicly defended the change. Addressing lawmakers earlier, Hemmati said, “the rial has lost its reason for being and the toman has become the norm.”
Proponents of the plan argue that lopping off four zeros is necessary given the diminishing value and prestige of the devalued national currency.
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