Hemmati in Bangkok: Caps on Bank Balance-Sheet Growth and Open Market Operations Are the Tools Against Inflation, With FX Priority on Essential Goods

Central Bank of Iran Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati set out the bank's monetary policy under war, sanctions and restrictions on transferring funds at a meeting of central bank heads from the West Asia, North Africa and Central Asia region in Bangkok. According to Khabaronline on Thursday, 15 October 2026 (23 Mehr 1405), he said the bank's policy response is calibrated to curb accelerating inflation and strengthen economic resilience, taking available foreign-exchange reserves into account.

Hemmati said the response rests mainly on quantitative limits on the growth of banks' balance sheets, measures to strengthen asset quality and the financial soundness of banks, and the allocation of reserves through open market operations, credit lines and supply-chain financing tools to support production. On foreign exchange, he said the bank's priority is supplying people's essential goods. The report gives no figures or timetable for these tools.