Hemmati Says Central Bank Has Supplied $500 Million in Negotiated-Rate FX to the Parallel Market; Gap With the Free Dollar Still 21 Percent (Thursday, Shahrivar 5, 1405)

Lead

Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), said on Thursday, Shahrivar 5, 1405 (August 27, 2026) that the central bank is supplying foreign currency at a "negotiated rate" (nerkh-e tavafoghi) in the parallel market, and will not let the gap between exchange rates fuel what he called "fake FX jobs." He said the move should not be seen as "flooding the market with currency"; $500 million has been supplied through this channel so far, and there is enough FX to keep the policy going: if more than $500 million is needed, that will be supplied too. The remarks came the same day Sahmino's live pricing board showed the negotiated-rate dollar, sold through Iran's currency and gold exchange center, at 158,039 tomans, while the Tehran free-market dollar traded around 200,600 tomans, a gap of nearly 42,500 tomans, or about 21 percent.

Background

Iran's currency market has been volatile this week: the free-market dollar crossed 200,000 tomans for the first time on Sunday, Shahrivar 1, climbed as high as 204,820 tomans on Monday and Tuesday, then pulled back to the 200,000-toman range on Tuesday evening, Shahrivar 3. According to Donya-e-Eqtesad, the central bank has been supplying physical dollar banknotes since Tuesday, pushing the free rate back down from above the 200,000-toman mark; today's remarks from Hemmati fit into that same pattern of active intervention in Iran's parallel currency markets.

Hemmati has repeatedly stressed continued FX supply in recent days. On Sunday, Shahrivar 1, he told Fars News Agency the central bank is supplying currency "morning to night" and urged people to ignore what he called "rumor mongering." On Monday, Shahrivar 2, he told Mehr News Agency the bank has supplied an average of $175 million a day in FX since the start of the current Iranian year (versus about $205 million a day in the same period last year), and that $20 billion would be allocated to industry by year end; he described the recent widening of the exchange-rate gap as "temporary."

Today's Numbers

Drivers

Today's remarks make the most sense read alongside that table, not apart from it. When the negotiated rate sits about 21 percent below the free-market rate, the gap itself can create an incentive that has nothing to do with real currency needs: anyone who can obtain dollars at the 158,000-toman negotiated rate and resell them at the 200,000-toman free-market rate pockets a roughly 21 percent margin without producing or importing anything. Hemmati's reference to "fake FX jobs" targets exactly this dynamic: the wider the gap stays open, the stronger the incentive to trade on the spread itself rather than on genuine demand for currency. Read this way, the $500 million injection he announced is an attempt to blunt that incentive, not necessarily to push the free rate down directly, which is why he was careful to say the move should not be read as "flooding the market."

Outlook

This section is Sahmino's own analytical reading of the data above, not a direct quote from the central bank. The policy's real effect hinges on a variable no single data point captures: whether the market believes the supply will continue. If traders come to see the central bank as willing and able to keep supplying negotiated-rate currency, part of the fear-driven demand behind the recent rally could ease. If the supply is seen as a one-off or limited gesture, any effect on the free rate is likely to fade quickly. In short, the $500 million figure alone is not the whole story; whether it is repeated and sustained in the coming weeks is.

Bottom Line

Today's news is not really about the $500 million figure in isolation; it is about the central bank's effort to manage a 21 percent gap between Iran's official and free-market dollar rates, a gap that can itself fuel speculative demand. As long as that gap stays this wide, targeted negotiated-rate FX supply can slow short-term swings, but it is not a substitute for the two rates gradually converging.

What to Watch

• Whether the central bank keeps supplying physical dollar banknotes in the coming days, and the effect on the 200,000-toman threshold for the free-market rate.
• Whether the gap between the free and negotiated rates narrows from today's roughly 21 percent, or widens further.
• Any updated central bank figures on the total volume of currency supplied at the negotiated rate in the parallel market.

Track live rates on Sahmino's free-market dollar page. For this week's full currency swing, see the dollar's retreat to the 200,000-toman range, and for today's full market backdrop, see today's Market Pulse. More on the central bank's plan to supply industry can be found in the report on $20 billion allocated to industry by year end.