Iran’s rial fell to a fresh open-market low on Saturday even as state banks began selling foreign currency under an intervention of up to $2 billion. Reuters reported that the US dollar was offered at about 2.688 million rials on the free market, compared with 2.632 million on Friday, using data from bon-bast.com. A second market tracker, alanchand.com, put the rate at 2.695 million rials per dollar. Iran International also reported the open-market dollar near 2.7 million rials after the government announced the cash injection earlier in the week.
The intervention was intended to support a currency that has lost more than half of its value over the past year, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state television. State banks started selling up to $2 billion as the economy continued to face US sanctions and a naval blockade. The latest decline indicates that the availability of official dollars had not yet reversed the pressure visible in free-market rates. Iran International said officials had been trading blame as the economy weakened and described the intervention as failing so far to halt the rial’s slide.
The backdrop is an inflation rate of more than 70%, according to Reuters. That combination of rapid price increases and currency depreciation has made basic necessities and rent increasingly difficult to afford. Restrictions on oil exports have also reduced a major source of foreign currency for the state. Mehdi Darabi, an aide to the central bank governor on foreign-exchange affairs, told state television that the rial’s decline was partly driven by predictions from US officials that Iran’s economy would collapse, and he described the latest fall as temporary.
The pressure has also changed where households and investors seek protection. Reuters reported that many Iranians have been buying dollars, other hard currencies or gold to preserve savings. Iran International similarly said the dollar and gold had reached new highs while the Tehran Stock Exchange climbed to a record 7,766,000 points before trading closed on Wednesday. The outlet said that apparent contradiction may reflect the same underlying effort by households and investors to protect wealth as the rial weakens.
What it means for traders: the immediate test is whether continued state-bank dollar sales can narrow the gap between official policy aims and the free-market exchange rate. A sustained fall in the number of rials required to buy one dollar would indicate that the intervention is gaining traction, while new highs would show that demand for hard currency continues to overwhelm the announced supply. For gold, the verified increase in local safe-haven demand is relevant, although the sources did not provide a quantified effect on international bullion prices.
The next figures to watch are the free-market dollar quotes published by bon-bast.com and alanchand.com, the pace and duration of the state banks’ sales, and any further guidance from Iran’s central bank. Traders will also monitor inflation, oil-export restrictions and whether officials provide evidence that the full amount of up to $2 billion has entered the market. The key threshold in the latest reporting is the area around 2.7 million rials per dollar, with Saturday’s quoted rates of 2.688 million and 2.695 million showing how close the currency has moved to that level.