An EA source reports that a relative in Tehran ordered a washing machine for 400,000 Toman (about $240) this week. When he went to the shop the next day, he was told that --- amidst the currency crisis and rising import costs --- the price was now 800,000 Toman (about $480). Another EA source says that the price of an item of software for a laptop computer has tripled from 50,000 Toman to 150,000 Toman within days.
Hyperinflation rates like that seem to point to an Iranian central bank turning on the printing presses to help the Iranian government to pay bills. While Iranians are used to some sort of inflation, rates like the above are just unbearable for normal people and they are likely to blame their government. I wonder if the Iranian government will start some trouble in order to get their citizens mind off of it all. And with no US troops in Iraq, that could be the perfect place for them to start.
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