Iran has limited the amount of foreign currency citizens can hold outside of banks to €10,000 ($12,350) in an effort to control the falling rial and control the country’s severe dollar shortage.
In a statement, the central bank said Iranians have until the end of April to sell excess foreign currency or deposit it in banks.
The decision comes as part of the Iranian government’s measures to overcome losses to the local currency. The rial has lost almost half of its value since September. Iranians have been purchasing foreign currency and gold coins in anticipation of the US pulling out of a 2015 nuclear deal which promised an end to sanctions on the oil rich state.
Earlier on Monday, Iran announced that it will unify the foreign exchange rate against the rial.