TEHRAN – The Iranian rial hit another all-time low against the US dollar onMonday in spite of central bank efforts to stem the decline.

The rial has lost around 15 percent of its value on the open market in thepast three days, bottoming at 128,500 to the dollar by Monday evening,according to Bonbast.com, which monitors Iran´s rates.

The drop followed a speech by central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati onSaturday, in which he announced tighter restrictions on allocating foreignexchange reserves, said financial journalist Maziar Motamedi.

“Hemmati said that he wishes to be much more careful in allocating foreigncurrencies at government rates, signalling a potential forthcoming shortageof hard currency,” he told AFP.

The rial has lost 70 percent of its value in the past year, primarily dueto increased hostility from the United States and its withdrawal from the2015 nuclear deal in May.

Official statements have done little to calm the markets.

Hemmati, who took over in August after his predecessor was sacked, “seemsto have had a point when he said in (his inaugural speech) that he will tryto minimise public remarks, as every comment coming from high-rankingofficials aiming to calm the market has spurred negative reactions,” saidMotamedi.

The central bank puts tight controls on how much foreign currency is pumpedinto the system, and hands out a special government rate of 42,000 tocertain importers, such as those buying essential goods like medicines.

Another factor may be demand from pilgrims heading to Iraq for the upcomingArbaeen religious festival, attended by some two million Iranians last year.

The central bank has tried to calm the market, first by trying to endopen-market trading in April, fixing the rate at 42,000 and shutting downexchange shops.

But that only sparked huge speculation and corruption on the black market,leading the government to sack the central bank chief and reverse the Aprilmeasures. – APP/AFP