Parliamentary Oversight Tools over Currency Policymakers Must Be Strengthened

A member of Parliament said: An important challenge in current conditions is the need to strengthen Parliament’s oversight tools over the Central Bank’s performance.

According to Ambassador Arjan, the representative of the people of Rosen in the Islamic Council, referring to the recent disturbances in the exchange rate and the intensification of heavy pressures on the livelihoods of different sections of the people, stated: The concentration of all currency, gold and monetary policy powers in the hands of the Central Bank based on the new law was a completely appropriate and positive measure in itself, because the dispersion of decision-making prevented the containment of inflation. But the problem started when these broad powers were not accompanied by any corresponding mechanism to answer the parliament. The law should not be regulated in such a way that a government official has absolute decision-making power, but the nation's lawyers do not have the leverage to hold him accountable.

The member of the Board of Education and Research Committee of the Parliament added: In the current situation, the impeachment of the Ministers of Silence, Jihad, Agriculture and Economy is giving the wrong address. Because according to the law, these ministers have no authority in allocating and determining currency priorities. The main decision-maker is the central bank, but the parliament does not have tools such as questioning, yellow card or impeachment. To fill this gap, it is necessary to amend the law of the central bank so that the relationship between the amount of authority and the level of accountability is equalized.

He said: Granting broad powers to the central bank in the field of currency and inflation, without strengthening the supervisory mechanisms and accountability to the parliament, has led to the formation of a serious gap in the country's economic governance system, and in order to achieve control of inflation, stability of the currency market and protection of the value of the national currency, which is one of the most important duties of the central bank, this institution must be accountable to the parliament.

Referring to the necessity of making the central bank accountable for the applied policies of this institution, this member of the parliament pointed out that one of the most important challenges in the current conditions of the country is the need to strengthen the parliament's monitoring tools on the performance of the central bank. Granting broad powers to this body, without providing effective mechanisms for regular reporting, providing explanations about key decisions and accountability for the results of adopted policies, can increase the gap between authority and responsibility.

In the end, he said: Parliament should be able to examine the effects of currency and monetary decisions with access to detailed information and expert reports, and in case of deviation from the set goals, demand the necessary explanations from the relevant authorities. This supervision does not mean interfering in the specialized decisions of the Central Bank, but rather a tool to ensure transparency, discipline and responsibility in the implementation of economic policies.