News in Brief
Talks underway between Tehran, Kabul for ditching us dollar in bilateral trade
Negotiations are ongoing between Iran and Afghanistan for sidelining US dollar in bilateral transactions.
The deputy governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said that talks are ongoing between the two countries for the implementation of “offshore rial’ in Afghanistan, reported Tasnim News Agency.
Mohsen Karimi pointed out that ‘offshore rial’ is used with the aim of supporting the economic activists and exporters of the private sector of the country. The project of ditching the US dollar and using rial in foreign trade exchanges has always been followed up by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to neutralize sanctions, he underlined.
Earlier, CBI Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin had announced that using the ‘offshore rial’ in trade with Russia, Afghanistan and Iraq is on the agenda, adding that the idea of ditching the US dollar has produced positive results.
Iran’s
point-to-point inflation down over 24%: Khandouzi
Iranian Finance Minister Ehsan Khandouzi said the country’s point-to-point inflation rate dropped by 24.6 percent in the first month of the current Iranian calendar year, March 20-April 19, compared to the same period last year.
He made the remarks at a weekly press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran, reported Mehr News Agency.
Citing figures by the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI), Khandouzi said the country’s point-to-point inflation rate dropped to 30.9 percent in the first month of this year, compared with 55.5 percent during March 21-April 20 last year, the first month of Iranian calendar year 2023.
In addition, at the end of the previous year, Iran’s liquidity growth rate decreased to 24.3 percent, the minister said, noting it used to stand at above 40 percent at the end of the former administration, early August 2021.
The minister added from March 20 to April 19, 2024, Iran’s producer price index declined by 6.1 percent compared to the same period last year to reach 31.2 percent.