The Iranian government has appointed a new governor for the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) in an apparent effort to contain rising prices in the country�s unofficial foreign currency market.

Mohammad Reza Farzin was named CBI governor by the Iranian Cabinet on Thursday, according to a report by the official IRNA news agency.

Farzin has served as CEO of Bank Melli, Iran�s largest lender, for the past 16 months. He holds a PhD in economics from Tehran�s Allameh Tabataba'i University and has a history of serving in top government jobs in a former administration that left office in 2013.

He replaces Ali Salehabadi, CBI�s youngest-ever governor. The government has given no clear reason for Salehabadi�s resignation although reports over the past weeks have suggested that President Ebrahim Raeisi was dissatisfied with his performance in the job.

Salehabadi had been�criticized�in domestic economic circles for his failure to control rising hard currency prices.

The price of the US dollar rose to an all-time high of 430,000 Iranian rials on Thursday, up 10,000 rials from a day earlier.

Experts welcomed Farzin�s appointment as CBI governor and said it could help ease the crisis in the foreign exchange market.

�The change in CBI leadership is a good move. Appointing someone who has experience and academic education in the field of banking and finance helps solve the problems,� said Morteza Afghah, a University of Birmingham graduate and a professor of economics at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz.

Afghah said the new CBI governor could also engineer changes in CBI�s monetary policies to help the government contain rising inflation in Iran.

 

 

By PRESS TV�