TEHRAN – Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Mohammadreza Farzin has said the bank is currently holding more than $100 billion of foreign currency reserves, Mehr News Agency reported.

Speaking at the CBI’s 30th annual monetary and exchange policy conference on Monday, Farzin said: “We must be able to use all the resources we have in other countries and the government has taken good measures in this regard.”

He underlined some of the measures that are going to be taken in the future for the management of the forex market, including the development of the currency and gold exchange center; establishing the stabilization fund, and reforming foreign currency purchase and sale policies, saying that the CBI has also prepared new programs for managing the gold market but now the focus is on the forex market.

Referring to the economic stabilization and executive policies of the central bank and government, the official said: “The monetary policies of the government and the central bank should be able to return stability to the economy and the instability of economic indicators should be resolved.”

Also speaking at the conference, Head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization (PBO) Davoud Manzour mentioned the negative impacts of the free foreign currency market on the country’s economy, saying that based on a wrong policy over the last 10 years, the economy has been conditioned to the free foreign currency and dollar market, and the country's economy is affected by this market.

Stating that the most important factor for economic growth is creating economic stability and curbing inflation, Manzour said: “In a joint program between the Central Bank of Iran, the Planning and Budget Organization, and the Ministry of Economy, we announced 19 programs for ensuring economic stability and curbing inflation, based on which the duties of each institution is clear.”

EF/MA

Photo: CBI Governor Mohammadreza Farzin