Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Ali Salehabadi, says the bank has enough resources and tools to stabilize currency and gold prices that have rocketed to unprecedented high in the past several days.
"The CBI's ultimate goal is stability in the currency market. It is present and intervenes to direct it towards stability.
"We have resorted to policies to this end," Salehabadi was quoted as saying by the Persian-language Eghtesadnews website on the sidelines of the weekly Cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.
Regarding the historic surge in forex rates in recent days, he said the CBI will continue supplying enough currency to the market to meet demand.
"Given that the CBI has sufficient foreign currency, it is determined to ease the people's access without waiting in long queues.” Launching a central platform for online forex trade is a key measure, he said.
The CBI this week gave permission to exchange shops to buy/sell currency online through the website of the Iran Currency Exchange (ICE).
Buyers can place orders using the ICE platform by showing their IDs and select any exchange shop to get their order.
Recently the regulator required licensed currency exchange bureaus to report rates shown on their electronic boards also on a central e-platform accessible to the public.
Close to 300 exchange bureaus have started publishing data live on the regulated market website. All 545 licensed exchange shops are expected to be linked gradually to the system.
"We also instructed 40 branches of Bank Melli Iran, Bank Mellat, Tejarat Bank and Bank Saderat Iran to sell foreign currency at negotiated rates," the CBI boss said.
Currency prices dropped in Tehran's open market on Wednesday after jumping to new highs at the weekend. US dollar lost 2.4% and was traded at 358,000 rials. It was quoted at an all-time high of 366,500 rials on Monday.
In the official market operated by the CBI-affiliated exchange bureaus, the greenback bought 291,110 rials -- up 0.19% on the session before.
The widening gap between rates of bank-affiliated exchange shops and the open market have led to long lines in front of bank-affiliated exchange shops, local media outlets reported.
In the regulated market it was quoted at 289,100 rials – down 2.01% from the previous day’s close.
The euro lost 2.11% on Wednesday to buy 359,220 rials while the UAE dirham fell 0.41% to buy 97,600 rials.
On the CBO tools to control rising gold prices, Salehabadi said, "Offering sovereign gold bonds (SGBs) started on Monday at the Iran Merchandise Exchange…We have also developed other instruments to be introduced in the coming weeks."
The CBI is selling 1 million Bahar Azadi gold coins in the form of 100 million SGBs. Bullion prices slid mostly under the influence of the SGB policy. The bonds are not taxable and every Iranian can buy up to 100 coins in bonds.
