Iranian Central Bank Head Says Bank Sold, Not Bought, Gold

Subsequent to scotching rumours that the Iranian central bank was planning to buy $45 billion's worth of gold and U.S. dollars, central bank head Mahmoud Bahmani said that Iran's central bank actually sold $9 billion's worth.

"The country's foreign exchange reserves have been increased by $9 billion through selling gold and foreign exchange conversion," IRIB reported him as saying at a breakfast meeting at Tehran's chamber of commerce....

Earlier this month Bahmani denied a newspaper report that the central bank was selling 45 billion euros from reserves to buy dollars and gold.

That would have marked a reversal of Iran's policy of moving away from the dollar, both in its reserves and in the currency it receives for its oil exports. Bahmani called the report "sheer lies".

Presumably, this means the Iranian monetary authorities are sticking with the Euro.