CBI Governor Signals Interest Rate Revamp

The Central Bank of Iran says it plans to modify interest rates to help strengthen the depreciating national currency, the bank governor Ali Salehabadi said. 
“Interest rates could have been used as an instrument for implementing monetary policies. The rates have changed only twice in the past five years…We believe that the rates must be employed much more effectively,” Salehabadi told a press conference, IBENA reported. 
He did not give any indication about which way the rates will go if and when they are tweaked. 
In mid-2020, the Money and Credit Council (MCC), increased interest rates on one-year maturity deposits by 1 percentage point to 16%, on two-year deposits the rate was set at 18%. The rate for short-term deposits with 3-month maturity hiked by 2 percentage points to 12%.  The regulator announced 14% for six-month deposits, up 3 percentage points while the cap on lending rates was 18% -- seen by most businesses as unaffordable.