Three orders of magnitude on inflation is okay, but interest is Usury.
Actually, Iran do have interest:
Iran’s financial system suffered a fresh jolt yesterday with panic selling on the stock market after the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, abruptly ordered banks to cut interest rates sharply, despite surging inflation.
The order, which Mr Ahmadinejad issued by telephone during a visit to Belarus and which flew in the face of expert advice - has triggered warnings of a financial crisis and spiralling corruption amid fears of a capital flight from the country’s lending institutions.
Mr Ahmadinejad’s decree forced all state-owned and private banks to slash borrowing rates to 12%. Inflation is officially 15% but is generally believed to be much higher. State banks had been offering rates of 14%, while those in the private sector ranged from 17% to 28%.
The decision caused panic in the Tehran stock exchange, with private banks losing much of their share value overnight. Shareholders in one bank, Karafarin, queued on Wednesday to sell their stock when previously there had been 1.2 million applicants to buy its shares.
Interest rates are normally set by the head of the central bank, who is nominally politically independent. The Hammihan newspaper carried a picture of a disconsolate-looking Mr Danesh-Ja’afari holding his head in his hand under the headline: Shock on the Tehran bourse.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2087915,00.html