On the first day of Ramadan, the most telling signal from the regime may have been the announcement of the Central Bank that a "tiered" exchange rate is being introduced for imports.
The step is an effective admission that the currency situation --- with the Iranian Rial holding only half its value in the open market, vs. its official rate --- is damaging Iran's producers across industrial and agricultural sectors. Higher costs for inputs have driven up the prices of those goods which could be made, and in many case, production has been cut back or suspended entirely.
The Bank's step commands that "basic goods" can be imported at the official rate of 12260 Rials to the US dollar --- an effective discount of almost 60% on the market price --- and "capital and intermediate goods" at a rate of 15,000 Rials to the dollar. Luxury goods will continued to be valued at the market rate of more than 19000 Rials to the dollar.
No comments:
Post a Comment