TEHRAN: Iran’s lawmakers have written to President Hassan Rouhani demanding the removal of the central bank chief, accusing him of mismanaging the banking industry and currency markets as the rial weakened to a record low.
Iran has witnessed “instability in the management of banks and credit institutions” under Governor Valiollah Seif, state-run Tasnim news agency quoted Javad Abtahi, one of 160 legislators to sign the letter, as saying. The governor has “repeatedly said that the situation in the currency market is under control but each time we’re seeing the opposite.”
The rial has slumped against the dollar in the unregulated market as the U.S. nears a May 12 deadline to stay in or withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal that removed a host of sanctions on Iran’s economy, and amid political feuding at home. Leaders have pointed the finger at enemies overseas as they responded with a decision to unify the exchange rate, and arrested several unlicensed traders.
