Private Sector’s Critical Role in Economy Underlined

nderstanding the changing landscape of Iran’s economy is of utmost importance for both politicians and private business owners. 
Since 2018, an important phase began in Iran’s economy. Following the reimposition of sanctions, the role of oil in the government’s budget and economy diminished. Before that, the government used to inject foreign-source earnings from oil and gas exports into the country’s economy through the public budget as well as the budget of state-owned companies and the National Development Fund of Iran. 
Industrial, trade and even agricultural sectors depended on oil revenue; the taxation system relied on the government’s oil budget directly (via taxes on salaries of public sector employees and state-owned companies) or indirectly. But this course of action has undergone a sea change, Ali Cheshomi, an economist, prefaced his article for the Persian-language economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad with this note. A translation of the text follows: