Majil to Probe Central Bank of Iran over National Currency Crisis

The Iranian parliament, Majlis, today voted 171 to 36 to investigate the country's central bank over its response to last year's currency crisis. The value of rial against the U.S. dollar plummeted in the last year as sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran and limitations on Iran oil exports started going into effect. The rial ended up losing more than half it value against dollar in 2012.

Parliamentarians have accused the central bank of mishandling the currency's decline, including accusations that it did not provide the market with enough dollars to meet demand.

“There are many questions that need to be asked in order to uncover the truth, because the responsibility of organizing the currency market is with the central bank,” said Mohammad Alipour, spokesman for parliament's economic committee. “One of the questions is what preventive measures this bank took to organize the market and prevent (dollar) price jumps.” (ICANA/Reuters, 20 January)

The investigation will also look into how the central bank manages Iran's money market, sets interest and loan facility rates, and allocates currency for imported goods, Alipour told Iran’s parliamentary news agency ICANA.

Photo: Iranian national currency, the rial (ISNA)