New regulations are set for foreign currency investment at Iranian banks. Foreign currency depositors will receive their deposit and interest as foreign currency, Ebtekar quotes the Central Bank of Iran. Depositors can also invest sums less than 10 thousand dollars in currency depositary accounts.
The interest rates for a one year investment have been announced as 4% for US dollars, 3% for euros, and 2% for Emirati dirhams which are to be paid monthly.
Ebtekar writes that by depositing 10 thousand US dollars in the bank, over the course of the year and with the 4% interest rate, he will receive nearly $400 which averages to $33 per month.
However by changing this sum to Iranian rials, at the current exchange rate of 1 USD per 105,000 IRR; and considering the 15% interest rate for rial accounts in banks, the depositor can expect to receive 13.1 million rials per month. In other words, nearly $125 per month.
Ebtekar has however chosen to completely ignore the devaluation of Iran’s national currency and inflation. Investing in foreign currencies automatically nullifies this risk.
Meanwhile, the central bank has increased banking interest from 15% to 23%. Based on estimates of future inflation, the profit from investing in a rial account may not be that different from a foreign currency account.
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