Economy Minister's Reaction to Dollar Reaching 72,000 Tomans: It Has Nothing to Do with the Government

The Minister of Economy in the government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi reacted to the surge in the dollar rate to nearly 72,000 tomans by stating that the 'free dollar rate' is unrelated to the government. Abdolnaser Hemmati claimed on Wednesday, December 14, that the free market exchange rate is not connected to the government and is influenced by regional and international developments. He did not explain why, if the value of the Iranian rial is solely affected by regional and international developments, the national currencies of other countries in the region and the world have not been similarly affected. The free dollar rate has surged from 57,000 tomans at the beginning of the fourteenth government to over 71,800 tomans. Hemmati stated that despite the free dollar rate being unrelated to the government, the Nima exchange rate set by the government and the Central Bank for imports and exports has jumped by 2% in the past week, 7% in the past month, and 25% in the past six months, exceeding 52,000 tomans. Despite such a surge, the Iranian Economy Minister claimed that there will be no increase in the prices of goods, especially essential goods, regardless of the free dollar rate. His claim about the absence of price increases comes as the International Monetary Fund has predicted that the prices of goods and services in Iran will surge by 32% this year and by 30% next year. The Iranian Economy Minister also mentioned a $3 billion loan from the National Development Fund, asserting that there are no concerns regarding the provision of preferential currency. His statements come amid significant turmoil in the main source of the government's foreign currency revenues, namely oil exports, which have sharply declined in recent months. Statistics from the commodity information company, Kpler, and the energy consulting firm, Vortexa, show that Iran's oil exports have continuously dropped since September, with Iran delivering only 1.33 million barrels of oil per day to China last month, which is half a million barrels less than in September.