USD, Gold Gain

The US dollar made new gains against the rial on Wednesday, but stopped short of crossing another psychological barrier. The rial was quoted at 44,400 to the dollar in Tehran’s open market, which is slightly higher than the previous day, Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union’s website reported. The Iranian currency has hit consecutive record lows against the greenback in the past few weeks, but hitting the 45,000 barrier would mark another watershed. According to market players, the main reason for the rally is the Central Bank of Iran’s disinclination to inject large amounts of hard currency into the market. Happening in the final months of the fiscal year, this raises the suspicion that the government is allowing the rial to weaken further to plug its budget holes. In the past, CBI had pledged to forestall any forex market volatility, or an untoward surge. Also on Wednesday, the benchmark Bahar Azadi gold coin surged by 0.8% and fetched 15.07 ($339) million rials, a further sign that the precious metal’s rally is yet to abate.