Thursday, October 4, 2012

Iran's Currency Crisis



Iran's Currency: Why Did The Rial Tumble So Precipitously? -- Roshanak Taghavi, Christian Science Monitor

US sanctions played a role. However, Iranians aren't blaming the US, they're blaming their own government.

The value of Iran’s national currency, the rial, plunged to its lowest against the dollar in more than two decades this week, plummeting by an estimated 40 percent in the past four days. And while the precipitous drop has been brought on by US sanctions, Iranians are in large part blaming the government's massive economic mismanagement.

The rial has declined roughly 80 percent in the past year, and the street rate is now around 37,000 rials to the dollar. But economists and oil officials in Tehran say they were less surprised by the breadth of the currency’s depreciation than by the rapid speed at which it fell. Indeed, many have predicted the rial’s continued, albeit gradual, decline for more than a year.

Read more ....

More News On Iran's Currency Crisis

Iran arrests 16 'main players' in currency crisis -- CNN
Iranian police on watch after currency plunge prompts protests -- FOX News/AP
Merchants Reopen in Tehran, With Police Watching for More Protests -- New York Times
Iranian police patrol tense Tehran bazaar in wake of protests -- L.A. Times
Iranian Police Clash With Protesters After Currency Plunges -- Voice of America
Iran traders stay shut in rial protest -- Financial Times
U.S. official says Iran currency to face more pressure
-- Reuters
Protests in Tehran: Will Pain of Sanctions Change Iran’s Nuclear Calculus? -- Tony Karon, Time
Iran in economic meltdown -- Rick Moran, American Thinker
ENDGAME: How Iran's Hyperinflationary Currency Collapse Could Lead To Revolution -- Matthew Boesler, Business Insider
Is Iran's currency crisis evidence that sanctions are working?
-- Michael Singh, Shadow Government/Foreign Policy

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