Rise of ‘Uncalled’ Appeal to Support Domestic Products

Iran’s economy witnessed the depreciation of its national currency, high inflation and recession following the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and imposition of sanctions in the fiscal 2018-19. 
The country’s politicians introduced policies that had an adverse effect on the production sector. On the one hand, severe import restrictions were enforced to preserve the local currency’s value. Imported goods were divided into four groups of essential, semi-essential, non-essential and prohibited goods; and the import of 1,339 items were banned. On the other hand, the rise in exchange rate from 40,000 rials per US dollar in the early 2018-19 to more than 100,000 rials at the end of that year led to an increase in the prices of imported goods and rise in the price advantage of domestic production. 
Barzin Jafartash, an economic expert, prefaced his write-up for the Persian daily Donya-e-Eqtesad with this note. A translation of the text follows: