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Banking the Bazl: Building a future in a sanctioned economy

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  • Ehsan Lor Afshar

Abstract

In Iran, economic sanctions have adversely impacted the country's money and banking system. The sanctions have caused hyperinflation, economic contraction, and devaluation of the currency. In response, the residents of Iran have developed a variety of coping strategies to ease the miseries of life. This article draws on fieldwork undertaken in Jiroft, a city in southeast Iran, between January and July 2019 to explore how, as Iranian banks struggle under economic sanctions, an old association of financial mutuality called Bazl has been revived in the area. In the reinvented Bazl system, people, frustrated with the banks, form Bazl groups to transfer their cash to each other as gifts with the expectation of reciprocation in the future. The amount of cash circulated through the Bazl system is estimated at 1,500 billion Iranian rials (US$140 million) annually. Under the current circumstance, choosing Bazl over banks as a means of storing value for the future appears to be a rational choice.

Suggested Citation

  • Ehsan Lor Afshar, 2022. "Banking the Bazl: Building a future in a sanctioned economy," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 60-71, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecanth:v:9:y:2022:i:1:p:60-71
    DOI: 10.1002/sea2.12232
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bohannan, Paul, 1959. "The Impact of Money on an African Subsistence Economy," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(4), pages 491-503, December.
    2. Hull, Elizabeth & James, Deborah, 2012. "Introduction: popular economies in South Africa," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 42043, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ståle Wig, 2024. "Infrabanking: Mobilizing capital in communist Cuba," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 59-70, January.

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