The Factors Affecting the Real Exchange Rate in Iran's Economy

The real exchange rate, which measures the changes in relative prices and costs with a common currency, is the most important measure of competitiveness. Thus, in this study, relying on the available evidence and the econometric model, the determinants of the behavior of the real exchange rate in the Iranian economy were examined. For this purpose, firstly, the real exchange rate was calculated and then, using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), the impact of important economic factors on it was analyzed during the period of 1978-2018. The findings indicated the continuous downward trend of the real exchange rate during the last two decades (except for the years 2011, 2016 and 2017), which led to a decrease in the competitiveness of domestically produced products compared to imported goods, and this decrease was caused by the adjustment of the exchange rate. The nominal currency is disproportionate to the difference in domestic and foreign inflation. The study findings showed the negative effect of oil export income and non-oil trade balance variables and the positive effect of the money volume to budget deficit variable in the long term on the real exchange rate. It is recommended that the calculated real exchange rate and the analysis of its behavior pattern used in the present study to estimate the equilibrium exchange rate in order to evaluate economic policies such as agricultural policies.