“We must take care of the lives of the people in the new circumstances facing the country and not let them, especially the poor ones, be affected,” Jahangiri said on Monday in reaction to the historic plunge in the value of Iran’s national currency.
The government’s priority is to protect the lives of people, especially the poor, against sanctions, he said, addressing a meeting of Resistance Economy Committee.
“The basic commodities, pharmaceuticals and essential needs of the people should be provided with official-rate currency and be made available to the society in abundance,” stressed Jahangiri.
He also underlined that the United States wants to impact public opinion before it imposes the sanctions and, in their own words, they want to launch an economic war against the Iranian nation.
“If we can handle this situation well and pass the country through this stage, the Iranian economy will become stable and economic indices become positive again.”
He went on to say that sanctions create problems but also provide opportunities for the country, one of which is in the industry sector.
“The central bank is seriously looking to review foreign exchange policies and present a new package for managing the foreign exchange market. Once the central bank’s package is finalised, all related organisations will be required to accompany the central bank in implementation of the proposed package,” he noted, adding that the package is expected to stop fluctuations in the foreign exchange market, and return stability to the country’s economy.
A dramatic decline in the value of the Iranian rial has increased the prices of imported consumer goods and depressed some markets in the past few months.
On Monday, one US dollar was traded for IRR 120,000 in the free market, leading the government to face a strong backlash from political and social circles for its handling of the economy.
