Iran mulls nixing zeros from currency as value plunges: What to know
Iran has experienced massive inflation in recent years and is now contending with an energy crisis as well.
An Iranian parliamentary commission approved removing four zeros from the national currency, as inflation runs rampant in the country and as the currency value continues to plunge.
The parliament’s economic commission approved a measure on Sunday whereby 1 Iranian rial would equal 10,000 rials under the current system, thus removing four zeros from the current value, commission chairman Shamseddin Hosseini told the parliament’s official news agency, ICANA.
What it means: There are a number of exchange rates in Iran. The Iranian rial is officially valued at around 42,000 to one US dollar. However, that is a fixed rate that is not determined by market forces, and the rial typically trades far below that rate. As of December, the central bank rate for essential goods was 285,000 rials to the dollar, according to the semi-official Press TV.
On Monday, the rial traded at around 935,000 to the dollar, according to the Iranian currency tracker Nevasan.
