Inflation-plagued Iran may alter currency

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 12 – Iran may drastically reform its currency by removing three zeroes off the Rial to combat the inflation rate which currently stands at more than 26 percent.

Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Aug. 12 – Iran may drastically reform its currency by removing three zeroes off the Rial to combat the inflation rate which currently stands at more than 26 percent.

Iran is presently considering whether to “remove three or four zeros off the Iranian Rial to introduce a new currency”, Tahmasb Mazaheri, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, told the state-run news agency Mehr on Tuesday.

Mazaheri said the move is one of three proposed monetary solutions under review at the Central Bank to tackle the further depreciation of the Rial.

The double-digit inflation plaguing the country for years has eroded the value of the Rial, officials say. The most valuable banknote in the country is the 50,000 Rial bill, worth around $5.3. The CBI chief said in February that Tehran would introduce a higher denomination banknote, a 100,000 Rial paper bill.