Iran’s rial rebounds despite tightening Trump sanctions

Bloomberg – Iran’s currency has appreciated 40% in the past year, the country’s central bank governor said, recovering from historic lows reached after the U.S. abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions.

Abdolnaser Hemmati said inflation had stabilized as the currency recovered, while the economy had recorded growth over the last 12 months despite the impact of sanctions and the threat of war, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency quoted him as saying Friday.

Iran’s rial tumbled on the unregulated market after Donald Trump said he would pull his country out of the multilateral agreement aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from building a nuclear bomb.

The loss of revenues from oil exports, Iran’s main source of hard currency, hit the currency hard, fueling inflation and shortages of some imports.

But it has been recovering for months on the open market after Iran took measures to preserve foreign currency and set up a government-run foreign-exchange platform to facilitate supply.