Page 27 - IRANRptMay20

Iranian rial plunges amid coronavirus pandemic and declining oil prices
Also at the cabinet meeting, Rouhani said that US sanctions have not hindered Iran's ability to fight its coronavirus outbreak, the worst in the Middle East and the seventh worst in the world, with 53,183 infections and 3,294 deaths officially recorded by the country of 83mn as of April 3.
"We did not face a problem due to cohesion, good management, skilled and professional medical staff, and all of these came together," Rouhani was quoted as saying.
Iran’s currency rial continued to lose value against major currencies on Tuesday, reaching as low as 160,000 to the U.S. dollar (well below its official rate of IRR42,000) at one point amid a quickly worsening coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic and falling oil prices, according to local media Radio Farda and foreign exchage website Bonbast.com, which tracks the free market.
Under the pressure of U.S. sanctions and inability to sell crude oil Iran's foreign currency reserves have hugely depleted. For the first time since 1962 on March 12 Iran appealed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency funding to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak.
The rial began a steep depreciation two years ago when the United States indicated it was leaving the 2015 nuclear deal and the specter of new sanctions emerged.
The rial lost more value in the past few days as the coronavirus epidemic spread across the country and oil prices fell.
Iran’s official pound sterling and euro rates—like all hard currency rates only available to state-approved parties—fell against the Iranian rial (IRR) by close of trade on January 30, Central Bank of Iran (CBI) data showed.
The official rate for sterling has been on a roller-coaster ride in recent months with recent gains seen ahead of the UK’s January 31 departure from the European Union. At the end of the business day, the British currency was trading down at IRR54,665, while the euro was also down, at IRR46,266. The US dollars remained locked in at IRR42,000 with no sign that the central bank intended to move it out of its imprisonment. Iran has removed all dollar transactions from official processes and dealings.
Official sterling, euro rates decline against rial on last January trading day in Iran
27​ IRAN Country Report May 2020 www.intellinews.com