Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has called on the Central Bank of Iran to lay the groundwork necessary to ditch the U.S. dollar for bilateral trade settlements and to make the switch to use the Iranian real whenever possible. The Central Bank of Iran has already started implementing this policy, proposing to pay bilateral trades using Iranian reals in a recent high-level reunion with Oman’s minister of commerce.
Raisi made the announcement on May 7 during a cabinet meeting after his visit to Syria. He discussed the advancement of other countries such as China and Russia in reducing their trade dependence on the U.S. dollar and called for the Central Bank of Iran to lay the groundwork for shifting to the use of local currencies, such as the Iranian real. Raisi also referred to the strength of the Syrian market and how the two countries could benefit from a closer integration and trade relationship.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Mohammadreza Farzin, explained that Iran would pursue this proposed policy of ditching the U.S. dollar in trade settlements as a strategic policy. The announcement was made on May 8 during a high-level meeting with Qais bin Mohammad Al Yousef, the minister of commerce and industry of Oman. Farzin stated that the $1.8 billion bilateral trading balance could even increase with the use of national currencies. He also explained that the U.S. was using its currency as a political tool to put pressure on other countries, which was the reason the usage of other currencies, such as the Chinese yuan, had grown recently. Oman’s representative received the proposal positively, stating that this move would present advantages for both sides.
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