Valiollah Seif

Valiollah Seif (Persian: ولی‌الله سیف‎, born 1 January 1952[1]) is an Iranian banker. He was the governor of the Central Bank of Iran from 2013 until 2018.

Valiollah Seif
Governor of the Central Bank of Iran
In office 2 September 2013 – 25 July 2018
Appointed by	Hassan Rouhani
Preceded by	Mahmoud Bahmani
Succeeded by	Abdolnaser Hemmati
Personal details
Born	1 January 1952 Hamedan, Iran
Alma mater	N.I.O.C. school of Accounting and Finance Allameh Tabatabaei University

Early life

Seif was born on 1 January 1952 in Nahavnd. He gained his Bsc. and Msc. from Petroleum University of Technology (former N.I.O.C. school of Accounting and Finance) and his Ph.D. from Allameh Tabatabaei University in Accounting. He is currently a professor at the Allameh University.

Career

He was CEO and chairman of some private banks in Iran, Mellat Bank (1990–1992), Saderat Bank (1992–1995), Sepah Bank (1995–2000), Future Bank of Bahrain (2001–2003) and Karafarin Bank (2010–2013). He was also governor of National Bank of Iran from 2003 to 2007. He was nominated as governor of Central Bank of Iran by the bank's board of directors and was accepted by President Hassan Rouhani. He was officially appointed on 2 September 2013 and quickly hinted that interest rates should rise in order to control inflation in the country.[2] He is currently vice president of the International Chamber of Commerce.[3]

Caspian Credit Institution protests

In 2017, Seif's reputation was hit hard when one of the five official Central Bank-approved credit institutions was unable to pay back the deposits of the customers. Unable to give reasonable explanation to the public, Valiollah Seif was soon the target for the public, media, and government officials. Protesters generally called for his execution.[4]

Honours

He received Gold Medal for Public Relations from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in January 2011. He was also named as one of Iran's banking industry faces persistent in 2012.[5]

References

1. زندگینامه: ولی الله سیف
2. https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21585034-new-president-testing-water-home-and-abroad-very-different-flavour Iran’s new government: A very different flavour
3. رئیس کل جدید بانک مرکزی کیست؟
4. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/05/30/iran-police-disperse-angry-protesters-outside-central-bank.html
5. چهره ماندگار بانکداری ایران معرفی شد

External links