Falling oil prices and the delayed implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action are to blame for Iran’s recent economic problems.
This was declared by President Hassan Rouhani at the First High-level Symposium on Industrial and Trade Policies: Promoting Exports and Developing Employment held in Tehran on Saturday.
President Rouhani added that the longer it takes the nuclear deal to take effect, the more economic problems it will beget, IRNA reported.
“I have tasked the government’s economic team to put together new policies for the second half of the year due to falling oil prices and delayed execution of nuclear accord at the beginning of summer. The work has been done and different aspects have been considered. These policies will be introduced in the coming days and the administration’s economic team will expound the details,” he said.
The president was referring to a package of measures, the drafting of which started in early August by a working group composed of three major policymaking entities, namely the Central Bank of Iran, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, and Management and Planning Organization.
The package is said to be aimed at beating the ongoing recession in the capital market and devising policies with an eye on growth.
“The road ahead will lead to economic growth, non-oil exports, attraction of local and foreign capital, and investment of Iranian expatriates, and jobs for the educated youth,” he said.
Denying rumors that American entrepreneurs are facing problems in Iran, the president said, “The Iranian side has never hobbled Americans from making investment in Iran. Today we are ready to welcome all foreign entrepreneurs, if they intend to export technology and invest.”
The president made similar remarks in a meeting with the executives of American companies in New York, saying American companies will not be hampered in establishing a presence in Iran as investment and technology transfer opportunities are there to be tapped in the post-sanctions era by all major international firms.
Elsewhere during his Saturday speech, Rouhani touch on his administrations’ efforts to contain inflation, saying the policy remains high on the agenda of the government.
“This is vital to production, people and the value of our currency. The administration has set out to reach a single-digit inflation rate by the end of its term in office,” he said.
The annual inflation rate reached a high of 34.7% in the year March 2013-14, when President Rouhani was elected. The incumbent government’s anti-inflationary policies helped pull down the rate to 15.5% the following year. According to the latest report by the Central Bank of Iran, the goods and services Consumer Price Index for urban areas increased 15.1% in the 12-month period ending September 22, which marks the end of the Iranian month of Shahrivar, compared to the same period of last year.
Participants of the two-day symposium are discussing the need for industrial and trade policies to complement the macroeconomic measures adopted by the government with the goal of creating long-term, export-oriented growth and jobs in Iran.
Iranian Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, the president’s Chief of Staff Mohammad Nahavandian and foreign guests active in industrial and trade fronts are attending the event.
