Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that the country is considering using its currency, rial, in trade with Afghanistan and Iran.

He made the remarks at an event with Iranian traders.

“With Iraq, we can use rial, we can do so with Afghanistan and also with some other regional countries. There are other issues which need to be discussed and which can play an effective and important role,” he said.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) said the trade rate with Iran has surpassed $1 billion.

“We were able to have $28 million in exports and $1.47 billion in imports,” said Abdul Salam Jawad, a spokesman for the MoIC.

The economists said that the trade activities with Iran with rial as currency will affect Afghanistan’s economy.

“This doesn’t benefit us because the currency balance deduction will be increased and at the same time the circulating of the national currency is being limited,” said Azeraksh Hafizi, an economist. 

Earlier, Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) said that a joint chamber of commerce of Afghanistan-Iran will be formed within the year.