Page 26 - IRANRptNov18

7.0 FX
Iran - FX
Jun-16
Sep-16
Dec-16
Mar-17
Jun-17
Sep-17
Dec-17
Mar-18
Jun-18
Currency (units per EUR) (eop)
34,092
35,339
34,056
34,859
37,057
39,666
43,273
46,522
49,268
Currency (units per USD) (eop)
30,700
31,460
32,375
32,422
32,489
33,805
36,064
37,743
42,590
Iranian forex merchants sentenced to death for “disrupting economy”
Iranian rial continues its comeback as central bank intervenes on market
The Iranian Supreme Court has upheld death sentences given to two financial traders convicted of illegal forex trading and “disrupting the economy”, RFE/RL reported on October 23.
Iranians with savings in recent months have transferred their Iranian rials (IRR) to other forms of liquid assets including gold and foreign currencies to ward off the impact of any further depreciation of their wealth amid the collapse of the IRR. This latest ruling is seen as a warning to the general public not to attempt to profiteer off the currency's severe decline amid the reimposition of US sanctions on Tehran.
Court authorities identified the two men as Vahid Mazloumin and Mohammad Esmail Ghasemi. Local media called them “Sultans of Sovereigns” after the latter was caught with some two tonnes of gold sovereigns.
Following the naming and announcement, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi said the two traders were convicted of “spreading corruption on earth” - a term used for the worst crimes under the Shariah Islamic legal system.
He added that this was a warning to opportunists" who aim to "disrupt the economy" during the time of the "enemy's pressure".
According to the banned Bonbast.com foreign exchange rates site, the rial was trading at IRR138,500 to one dollar, while the euro and pound sterling traded at IRR158,650 and IRR179,800, respectively late on October 23.
The Iranian rial (IRR) continued its rebound on October 7, strengthening to around IRR123,000 against the US dollar on the free market, according to data on foreign exchange website Bonbast.com. However, October 8 saw the currency give up some of its gains, as it slid to IRR142,000 by around 17:45 local time.
Amid the US sanctions assault on the Iranian economy, the rial lately fell to its weakest ever rate of around 195,000 versus the USD, placing it at approximately 75% down in the year to date.
Market observers have partly attributed the sudden turnaround in the market to new rules allowing the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) to directly intervene on the foreign exchange market and flood the system with currency deployments to stop the run on the rial.
The government, meanwhile, has been pushing the country’s ‘internet police’ to track down the owners of several free market websites listing prices of hard currencies. Many of those sites are now not displaying rates. Bonbast.com is the holdout, perhaps given the fact that it is run from
26 IRAN Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com