Iran approves plan to cut four zeros from falling currency
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
World Affairs
- Published
7th May, 2020
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- Iran's parliament has passed a bill allowing the government to slash four zeros from the rial after a sharp fall in the value of the currency as a result of crippling U.S. sanctions.
- Iran's national currency will be changed from the rial to the Toman, which is equal to 10,000 rials, under the bill.
- The idea of removing four zeros has been floated since 2008, but gained strength after 2018, when U.S. President exited Iran's 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions, as the rial lost more than 60% of its value.
- The Iranian currency was trading at about 156,000 rials per dollar on the unofficial market on Monday, according to foreign exchange websites.
- Iran's weak currency and high inflation have led to sporadic street protests since late 2017.
