Expert Probes Causes of Production Sector’s Woes

In recent years, Iran’s decision-makers prioritized the issues of supporting production and economic development, and devised policies to meet these goals. However, slogans and economic discourse arising from the policymaking apparatus regarding production have not led to practical results. 
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:
The government’s mandated pricing is the first and perhaps the most obvious anti-production policy. A communiqué issued on Sept. 1, 2018, by former industries minister paved the way for the pricing of all manufactured and imported goods by the Consumers and Producers Protection Organization. 
According to Hossein Harvarani, an expert with the Majlis Research Center, 15 governmental bodies are in charge of pricing. The government sets the prices of a large number of goods and services. This practice, particularly under the current inflationary conditions, inflicts huge losses on the production sector.