Iran Shura Council approves currency reform bill to slash four zeros
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The move aims to streamline transactions and introduces the new subdivision called the gheran.
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A street money exchanger poses for a photo without showing his face as he counts Iranian banknotes at a commercial district in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022 (AP)
The Iranian Shura Council approved a bill to slash four zeros from the national currency, the rial, on Sunday, according to the official news agency IRNA.
The bill was passed with 144 votes in favor, 108 against, and three abstentions during an open session of the parliament, a plan that Iran's cabinet had previously approved in August and whose implementation still requires the approval of the country's Guardian Council, according to the report.
Removing four zeros from the rial is aimed at streamlining financial transactions, and while Iran's national currency would continue to be called the rial, its subdivision would be called the gheran, according to IRNA.
Following the removal, one new rial would be equivalent to 10,000 current rials and would be subdivided into 100 gherans.
Head of the Economic Committee details the decision
The head of the Iranian Parliament's Economic Committee, Shams al-Deen al-Hussaini, explained that the 12th government had previously submitted a proposal to amend Article One of the Money and Banking Law, but following the passage of the new Central Bank Law in 2023, some articles of the previous law were repealed.
Al-Hussaini further pointed out that both the government's bill and the parliament's earlier decision involved the removal of four zeros from the currency, which would make one new monetary unit equivalent to 10,000 of the current rials, an approach that was approved by the parliament's Economic Committee.
The head of the committee also stated that minor adjustments to the monetary unit had been maintained, adding that determining the exchange rate for foreign currencies against the new rial and the central bank's buy and sell operations would be carried out within the existing financial system while taking into account the country's reserves and legal obligations.
He also confirmed that the law governing Iran's membership in the International Monetary Fund remains in effect and covers these obligations.
