Continued Efforts to Control the Currency Market; Central Bank Governor: Entering the Informal Currency Market is Equivalent to Money Laundering

With the exchange rate of each US dollar rising against the Iranian rial and entering the '55,000 tomans' channel, the Governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic has stated that the policy of this high authority in the monetary and banking sector of Iran is 'shrinking the informal market.' Mohammad Reza Farzin, the Governor of the Central Bank, tweeted to 'economic activists of the country' that one cannot receive currency from the 'informal market' and simultaneously wait for 'allocated currency' to obtain the 'difference!' This senior economic official of the Islamic Republic government further claimed that the policy of this institution is 'shrinking the informal market' and entering the 'informal market' is considered 'money laundering' and disrupts the 'economic system.' These statements were made at a time when, despite government promises, the increase in the price of each US dollar against the Iranian rial has accelerated compared to previous weeks and has been traded at '55,000 tomans' in the free currency market of Iran. On the other hand, the statements of the Central Bank Governor of Ebrahim Raisi's government have faced direct reactions from some activists who wrote to him: 'An economic activist cannot wait forever for you to allocate currency to him.' Previously, by the order of the Governor of the Central Bank, 'allocation of currency' to importing companies that purchase currency from the free market before the allocation stage has been 'prohibited.' Mohammad Reza Farzin emphasized in a correspondence with the bank's currency deputy that in line with 'managing the currency market in the informal market' and based on 'gathered information' regarding how 'some importing companies' secure currency, from this date onward, currency allocation to 'all companies that purchase currency in the free market before the allocation stage' is prohibited and 'no allocation shall be made without my approval.' On Friday night (April 27), Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic, stated in a joint meeting of the Planning Council, Development, and economic activists of Khuzestan province: 'An active secretariat has been established in the government that will change Iran's currency relations with the world and this secretariat will cut the umbilical cord of the dollar's power to enhance the value of the national currency.' Now, three days after the formation of such a headquarters and despite previous orders from the Governor of the Central Bank, the free currency market in Iran has not accepted price regulation and has increased the price of currency, following the rapid path of the last weeks of 1401 when the US dollar reached '60,000 tomans.' Meanwhile, Alireza Payman-Pak, head of the Trade Development Organization, has also announced that the Central Bank has issued a permit for 'imports with cryptocurrencies' and 'we are waiting for final approval from the Ministry of Economy,' a news that has previously been announced several times with the intention of controlling the currency market situation and the liquidity of banks but has faced numerous reactions due to many ambiguities in the possible implementation method and the possibility of widespread money laundering. The market's reaction to the news of the formation of a headquarters that is supposed to 'cut the umbilical cord of the dollar' has brought the price of each US dollar close to 55,000 tomans. A repeated version of 'command economy'; prohibition of coin trading without registration in the system. Expanding the scope of 'taxation' for citizens; from buying and selling property and cars to gold and cryptocurrencies. Continued depreciation of the rial; the Central Bank Governor: I do not accept the 'free dollar' rate.