One of the hottest topics of the week was the exchange rate for the US dollar which reached 47000 IRR on Monday. While exchange offices refused to buy and sell dollars, the Governor of the Central Bank, Valiollah Seif, warned people not to buy dollars as its price is expected to drop in the upcoming months. However, it seems nobody took this warning seriously. Dr. Seif said that even considering the 15% interest rate provided by banks over the past years, within the past four years one could gain 75% return on investment, while investing in the dollar would net a maximum of 50% return over the same period. The Central Bank also pointed to the increase in the price of oil and other dollar incomes and emphasized that the dollar reserves are sufficient. Dr. Seif emphasized that the recent increase in exchange rates has nothing to do with unification of multi-tier exchange rates which has been in place since 2002.
Currently the official exchange rate for USD and Euro is equivalent to 36,775 IRR and 45,735 IRR, respectively. At the market rate one USD and Euro are exchanged at 45,470 IRR and 57,500 IRR, respectively.
