Iran will use Euros instead of US dollars as foreign currency

Source: CCTV.com | 12-19-2006 13:56

Also in Iran, the government has announced it will calculate all its revenue from oil and other foreign trade in euros, instead of US dollars.

Iran has been shifting reserves out of dollars for several years, but it is not immediately clear if this latest announcement indicates a new drive to dump the dollar.

Gholam Hossein Elham, the Iranian government spokesman said,, "Until now the budget and foreign currency revenues have been calculated based on dollars. And the dependence was on dollars. This way of calculating is being changed. We are calculating and receiving oil revenues based on euros and what we calculate in our budget will be the Rial equivalent of euros not dollars."

Central bank officials do not release figures for the total reserves or the breakdown of currencies or assets, but recent reports suggested dollars may now only make up about 30% Iran's holdings.

Editor:Ji Xuewen