Iranian Merchants' Forex Purchase Orders Double

Purchase orders by merchants from the start of the current Iranian year (March 21) until May 16 has doubled compared with the corresponding period of last year, the vice president for administrative and recruitment affairs said. 
According to Jamshid Ansari, purchase orders during the period have been worth $9.8 billion, marking a twofold increase from the previous year. 
"Besides the rise in purchase orders, the government has also paid special attention to essential goods for public consumption and this year more than $1.7 billion have been allocated for such goods," Ansari was also quoted as saying by IBENA. 
After the unification of the US dollar's exchange rate on April 9, the government has capped the amount for essential goods allocation with subsidized rates at 30 trillion rials ($714 million).
The list of essential goods includes medicine, corn, oilseeds, cattle and poultry vaccines, livestock and pesticides. 
Paper, raw material for paper and milk powder are other goods that will receive the greenback at the rate of 42,000 rials.