Iran's Government Fires Its Central Banker For Not Stopping The Collapse Of It's Currency

Valiollah Seif, governor of the Central Bank of Iran

New York Times: Iran’s Top Banker Is Dismissed in Shake-Up as U.S. Sanctions Take a Toll

Iran’s central banker was fired on Wednesday in the first senior shake-up since the United States abandoned the nuclear agreement nearly three months ago and restored sanctions, moves that worsened an already weak Iranian economy.

The dismissed official, Valiollah Seif, governor of the central bank for five years, had been widely assailed for what critics called his mismanagement of Iran’s monetary policy, which contributed to a steep drop in the value of the country’s rial currency.

Some also faulted Mr. Seif for failing to foresee that the Trump administration would withdraw from the nuclear agreement, which had eased economic sanctions in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear work.

President Trump’s decision, announced in May, accelerated a capital flight from Iran that hastened the rial’s decline, unnerving Iranians who saw it as a warning of economic calamity.

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WNU Editor: Replacing him with someone else is not going to stop the decline of the Iranian economy. This is the Iranian leadership looking for a scapegoat.