Iran top Central Bank official removed as unrest triggers currency crash
The dismissal of Iran's foreign exchange head follows the unprecedented depreciation of rial, following three months of anti-government protests.
Afshin Khani, the top foreign exchange official in the Central Bank of Iran, was removed from his post this week, less than one-year into his turbulent tenure.
Khani has been replaced by Mohammad Aram on Wednesday. He will be inheriting a fragile Iranian forex market, with the national currency, the rial, falling to an all-time low over the past few weeks.
As of Thursday, the US dollar was trading for over 384,000 rials across Iranian markets. The rate stood at around 330,000 in October and at 240,000 last August when hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi was inaugurated.
Prominent economists have called in recent weeks for Central Bank Governor Ali Salehabadi to resign, citing his perceived failure to absorb economic shocks and inconsistencies in his foreign exchange policy-making.
