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Tehran: Iran's central bank governor has resigned, news agencies reported yesterday, after weeks of rumours about the fate of Ebrahim Sheibani who analysts said had differed with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on economic policy.
A former economy minister is expected to be appointed as the new central bank chief in the latest change among Ahmadinejad's top economic managers before the March parliamentary election.
Ahmadinejad, whose policies have been criticised by economists for fuelling inflation, has already changed the oil and industry ministers. Some analysts said those cabinet members had, like Sheibani, questioned some government policies.
"The president, Ahmadinejad, accepted this resignation (of Sheibani)," government spokesman Gulam Hussain Elham was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency. The official IRNA agency carried a similar report.
Elham said Sheibani would stay in post until an official decree due out on Tuesday was issued about the new governor, expected to be Tahmasb Mazaheri, an economy minister in the previous administration, the news agencies reported. There was no statement from the central bank on the reports.
Economic analyst Saeed Laylaz earlier said he expected Sheibani to be replaced because the governor opposed Ahmadinejad on issues such as the president's call to cut interest rates.
Bank rates were cut on the president's recommendation in June, a move criticised by economists at a time when inflation has surged to 16 per cent or more.
Wait-and-see
"Ahmadinejad is trying to reorganise his cabinet for the next parliament election ... He wants to have one cabinet with all members behind the cabinet," Laylaz said, adding the central bank change could herald a more interventionist monetary policy.
Ahmadinejad vowed to share out Iran's oil wealth more fairly when elected in 2005 but economists have blamed soaring prices on his government's spending policies which have been fuelled by windfall revenues from high oil prices.
Although public grumbling about the cost of living has risen, analysts say the government has a cushion of petrodollars to keep the economy growing, even if below potential.
International bankers, already wary of dealing with Iran after sanctions were imposed because of a row over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, have previously said they would be concerned if Sheibani were replaced. "He was appreciated by the international community," said one international banking source, who asked not to be identified. "We have to see who will follow him."
Bankers say Sheibani earned respect by seeking to keep politics out of monetary policy and also by fighting hard, with limited tools, to control prices.
Many banks have already stopped dollar transactions and some have cut all dealings with Iran, which says it wants nuclear technology for civilian purposes not atomic bombs as the West fears.
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