The decision means an account holder cannot withdraw more than that amount daily in cash, but can still write checks for larger amounts. Finance Minister Shamsoddin Hosseini told a conference Wednesday that "controlling the cash" would serve to battle money-laundering and financial terrorism.
Analysts, however, said the restriction was apparently aimed more at combatting double-digit inflation in a country where the economy is largely in shambles in part from sanctions and what critics contend are President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's free-spending populist policies.
"It's a measure to try to contain prices rises, or inflation, and we have to wait and see if this, with additional measures, will contain price pressures in Iran," said John Sfakianakis, chief economist with Banque Saudi Fransi-Credit Agricole Group in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.