Iran’s non-oil exports increased nearly 17.7 percent in the first nine months of the current year (which started March 21, 2014), compared with the same period last year, the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced on Saturday.
According to the IRICA data, the value of non-oil exports reached $35.1 billion by the end of the period, while non-oil imports reached $38.4 billion, recording an increase of 14.9 percent.
Iran’s major exported items during the past nine months included liquefied propane, methanol and bitumen and the main export destinations, in descending order, were China, Iraq, the UAE, Afghanistan and India.
The country’s major imports in the past nine months included wheat, vehicles with internal combustion engines, rice and soybean, which were mainly imported from the UAE, China, South Korea and Turkey.
The government is trying to generate new sources of revenue in a bid to reduce its traditional reliance on oil revenues. The move is in line with a new economic policy aimed at lessening the effects of economic sanctions imposed by the EU and the US over Tehran’s nuclear energy program – particularly those affecting the oil industry and the banking system.
According to the government’s projections, state revenues from non-oil exports should reach $61 billion by the yearend. To achieve the goal, the government is trying to implement various plans, including the so-called “tax-exemption program for exporters”, in an attempt to boost the country’s exporting activities.
The Supreme Council of Development of non-oil exports recently submitted a proposal to the government to provide exporters and all those engaged in economic activities with special banking loans. If ratified, the move will significantly boost Iran’s non-oil exports to the international market.
