The Rouhani administration seriously pursues shifting the country’s economic system from the current resource-based economy to a technology-based one and afterwards to an innovation-based system, Mohammad Nahavandian, the chief of presidential staff said on Saturday.
Making the remarks during the opening ceremony of the 14th International Electricity Exhibition in Tehran, Nahavandian noted that the government, through professionalization of economic policy, has succeeded in bringing back “sustainability” and “predictability” to the national economy, reducing the inflation rate and market fluctuations during the past 12 months.
Nahavandian endorsed that since assuming power in summer 2013, the Rouhani administration has been successful in improving the business environment by making the economic conditions more transparent and predictable and, subsequently, has prepared some opportunities for attracting foreign and domestic investment.
He added that the government will continue with its policies to improve economic conditions and to attain a sustainable growth, adding that the government’s priorities include creating new and diverse job opportunities, tackling the recession, applying discipline to the monetary policy, paving the ground for attracting foreign investors, opening credit lines for Iranian businessmen in other countries, and building buffers for Iranian private investors.
In the past two years, inflation increased sharply and the volume of non-oil exports decreased well below potentials. Per capita income and living standards also experienced drops as a result of economic mismanagement by the former government and external pressures in the form of western-led sanctions. International restrictions on Iran’s banking system have also made the financial sector vulnerable to fluctuations. All these are seen by analysts as factors that can result in low economic growth and high inflation.
Iranian businessmen and consumers are suffering from the effects of economic mismanagement as well as tight sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union over Tehran’s nuclear energy program. To address these challenges, the Rouhani administration is making every effort to stabilize the economic conditions via maximizing predictability and introducing reforms to the economic system. However, experts believe that the intended reforms could prove successful if the government can reach a ‘permanent’ nuclear deal with the West to remove all the sanctions by November 24.
