Iran's Supply of Rial at Risk, Europe no longer printing Iranian currency.

Iran's Supply of Rial at Risk, Europe no longer printing Iranian currency.(NYT).Western economic sanctions imposed on Iran over its disputed nuclear program have severely depressed the value of its national currency, the rial, causing higher inflation and forcing Iranians to carry ever-fatter wads of bank notes to buy everyday items. But the sanctions have also presented a new complication to Iran’s banking authorities: they may not be able to print enough money. At least three European companies that have been providing currency production services to Iran say they have stopped doing business there. “By manipulating and increasing the printing volume of the rial, the regime can bolster its floundering currency and mask the disastrous impact of its political decisions, economic mismanagement and isolation,” Mark D. Wallace, the chief executive of United Against Nuclear Iran, said in announcing the campaign.Nathan Carleton, a spokesman for United Against Nuclear Iran, said in an e-mail that it had been contacted on Tuesday by Flint Group, which said it was no longer active in Iran. As inflation erodes the rial’s purchasing power, Iran’s central bank must increase the supply of money, which risks hyperinflation, a cycle of rising prices and rising volumes of money in circulation. Denying the bank’s ability to increase the supply of money would theoretically hasten an economic crisis. Read the full story here.