The Cabinet on Wednesday appointed Ali Akbar Komijani as the new governor of the Central Bank of Iran.
Born in 1951, Komijani was a vice-governor of the CBI since January 2014. He was the CBI deputy chief for economic affairs between 2013 and 2014 and served as the vice governor from 1998 to 2007.
He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and teaches at Tehran University.
He was proposed for the top job by the Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand. The governor must be approved by CBI’s General Assembly and the Cabinet.
He was a caretaker of the CBI following the removal of Abdolnasser Hemmati earlier in June. President Hassan Rouhani discharged Hemmati soon after he announced his bid to run in the presidential election which he lost along with two other aspirants.
Local media recently reported on Hemmati's disagreements with Rouhani over key monetary issues. Hemmati had publicly criticized the government for its poor fiscal discipline and forcing the CBI to pay the government the rial equivalent of “invisible foreign currency” held with the National Development Fund of Iran, the sovereign wealth fund.
Hemmati often complained that resorting to NDFI forex assets under circumstances where such assets are not accessible due to the US economic blockade was the main cause of galloping inflation the unprecedented increase in the money supply.
The appointment comes less than a months before Rouhani's second and final term ends. As per law, if the CBI governor resigns or is sacked, a replacement must be announced within one month.
Eghtesadnews website carried a report on Komijani's economic views on Wednesday. It said he is likely to
“draw on financial and monetary policies” to help the economy grow. He also seems interested in setting inflation targets as it would help shape market' expectations.
It also referred to Komijani's approach to the chaotic forex market, saying that he would try to “use interest rates as an instrument for stabilizing foreign exchange rates.”
The economic news website, however, did not say how the new CBI boss intends to “stabilize” the currency market that has been in a permanent state of volatility for decades with depressed supply and high and rising demand.
