Iran’s Ministry of Industry announced that it will no longer allot subsidized foreign currency rates to any imports other than wheat, barley, corn and soya.
All other imports into Iran will have to be negotiated at the market rate of exchange for foreign currencies.
The Iranian currency has fallen sharply against the dollar in the past two years from about 12,000 rials to the dollar to more than 34,000 rials.
The international sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and financial institutions appear to have been the major cause of this rapid devaluation of the national currency.
The government had prioritized a number of goods and provided foreign currency at a subsidized rate for imports including medical drugs and major food necessities.
The list has been changing in recent months to include fewer and fewer items as the public is faced with an ever-growing inflation rate.
