Iran advises against buying dollars or gold

Despite rising inflation, Iran advises against buying dollars or gold

Submitted by cpowell on Sun, 2011-11-20 17:59. Section: Daily Dispatches

By Ladane Nasseri
Bloomberg News
Sunday, November 20, 2011

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-20/minister-advises-iranians-again...

Iran's economy and finance minister, Shamseddin Hosseini, advised citizens not to buy dollars or gold coins because of their high cost, the newspaper Iran reported.

"Foreign currencies and gold coin rates will drop so those who buy them at high cost must not complain later," Hosseini said yesterday, according to the Tehran-based daily.

Rising inflation in Iran, which the International Monetary Fund has forecast will reach an annual 22.5 percent this year from 12.4 percent in 2010, and a cut in bank deposit interest rates have boosted demand for foreign currency and gold.

The official rate today is 10,880 rials for the dollar, according to the Iranian Central Bank's website. The "market rate" at exchange bureaus is about 13,350 rials.