Dollar, Euro Higher Amid CBI Effort to Stabilize Rates
EghtesadOnline: Exchange shops in Tehran on Saturday sold the US dollar at 133,500 rials, which was up 2.7%, or 3,500 rials, compared to previous working day's close.
According to the Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union website, the euro also posted 2.4% growth in Saturday trade with 148,500 rials, Financial Tribune reported.
Local media also reported an increase in the difference between the buying and selling price of foreign currencies at the moneychangers–including bank-affiliated exchange shops functioning as the Central Bank of Iran's arm in the currency market.
"Moneychangers in recent months have been selling foreign currencies nearly 1,000 rials higher than the price they buy. The gap was about 2,000 on Saturday," ISNA reported.
The relatively sharp increase in currency rates was limited mostly to the widely used currencies, USD and the euro. Other currencies saw no significant shift in value on Saturday.
Striving for Stability
The CBI has often stressed that it wants and works for stability in the forex market. In an interview with IRIB on Wednesday, Abdolnasser Hemmati, the CBI governor, said, "Stability in the market is crucial for us…My plans are based on making the economy predictable."
He said the CBI's foreign currency reserves are at a decade-high, though "it does not mean that we are allowed to inject foreign currency in the market."
The average price of the dollar was 130,200 rials in the past two weeks according to TGJU. The three-month average and six-month average price stood at 124,898 rials and 120,091 rials, respectively.
Gold Stable
Gold coin prices posted slight increase on Saturday following trends in the domestic currency market and international bullion market. Emami gold Coin gained 0.76%, or 380,000 rials, to reach 49.38 million rials. Bahar Azadi Gold Coin was priced at 49.07 million rials, up 0.51% compared to the previous day's close.
The Persian-language economic newspaper Donya-e- Eqtesad, in a weekly review of the market, said gold coin prices had barely seen major shifts in the past week. Referring to possible CBI measures to limit fluctuations in the currency market and its impact on the gold coin market, the review foracast stability in prices in the coming days.
Gold prices in world markets jumped to a more than two-week high on Friday. Spot gold was up 0.7% at $1,573.53 per ounce, having hit a peak since Jan. 8 of $1,575.03 earlier in the session. The metal was up 1% for the week.