Senior Iranian officials discussed the state of economy and its prospects in the run-up to the lifting of western sanctions against the country.
Held at the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mining and Agriculture’s headquarters in Tehran on Monday, the meeting was attended by Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani and members of the chamber.
Larijani called on private sector experts to help Majlis with the enactment of the sixth five-year development plan (2016-21), which has set an annual economic growth target of 8%.
Referring to the government’s domination over the economy as the main issue hindering growth, Larijani stressed the need for the effective implementation of Article 44 of Iran’s Constitution.
The article requires the government to transfer 80% of the shares of state-owned companies to nongovernmental entities. However, a majority of large companies privatized so far have been acquired by quasi-government organizations, as the genuine private sector could not afford them.
“The lifting of sanctions will not make all our problems go away, since a large portion of the issues plaguing the economy are to do with mismanagement,” said ICCIMA head, Mohsen Jalalpour.
“Economic stagnation is still in place and unfinished projects are scattered all over the country.”
Earlier, First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said the government plans to delegate all unfinished projects to the private sector in view of the tight fiscal budget this Iranian year (started on March 21).
According to Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohammad Shariatmadari, there are about $14 billion worth of unfinished projects across the country.
“The economy requires a smaller government with a diminished role, investment security and eradication of bureaucracy to be able to absorb investments and move forward,” said Jalalpour.
