President Hassan Rouhani has called for special plans to develop international economic relations in the face of severe American sanctions.
President Hassan Rouhani has called for special plans to develop international economic relations in the face of severe American sanctions.
The number of fatalities caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection in Iran topped 29,000 on Tuesday, as the country’s intensive care units have been filled to the brim with patients in critical condition.
More than 35 million cubic meters of gas is produced daily at the South Pars Phase 13 refinery and output is expected to rise to 50 mcm, the refinery manager said.
“In the blueprint 38 wells are considered for the phase that will deliver 56 mcm/d to the refinery. Now 39 mcm of gas is supplied to the refinery,” IRNA quoted Mohammad Saeidian as saying.
“Built by Iranian engineers, the refinery currently produces almost 40,000 barrels of gas condensate a day and will reach full capacity of 80,000 barrels soon,” he said.
The 5th (online) Iran Renewable Energy Conference and Exhibition (Iran REC 2020) will be held virtually on December 16.
Iran Renewable Energy Association is organizing the event in collaboration with the Energy Ministry and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization, the Energy Ministry news portal Paven reported.
The virtual gathering will review challenges Iran is facing in developing renewables and offer solutions to improve the business environment in the key industry as the nation fights hostile US economic sanctions and the colossal problems created by Covid-19.
The United States slapped tough economic sanctions after Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned the landmark Iran nuclear deal in May 2018. The sanctions, particularly on the energy, banking, insurance and shipping sectors, bar US companies from trade with Iran. Foreign firms are not spared.
The world’s response to Covid-19 can “reshape the future of energy” for years to come, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday in its annual World Energy Outlook report.
Latest statistics released by Iran Airport Company indicate a 23% growth in the total number of foreign flights using Iranian airspace during the month to Sept. 22.
A total of 10,376 foreign flights passed through Iran's airspace during the month, which figure stood at 8,431 in the previous month.
However, a year-on-year comparison reveals a 56% drop in the number of overflights, mostly due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent suspension of airlines' operations.
A total of 766,000 tons of goods worth $450 million were exported from the central Markazi Province’s customs terminals to 82 countries during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 20-Sept. 21), registering a 16% and 21% decline in tonnage and value respectively compared with the similar period of last year.
The Statistical Center of Iran has surveyed the unemployment rate across Iran's 31 provinces in the second quarter of the current fiscal year (June 21-Sept. 21).
Khorasan Razavi Province filed the lowest unemployment rate of 5.7% among all Iranian provinces in Q2 while Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province registered the highest rate of 16.3%.
During the same quarter of last year (June 22-Sept. 22, 2019), Zanjan Province posted the lowest unemployment rate with 5.2% and Yazd recorded the highest joblessness rate with 15.1%, the Statistical Center of Iran reported.
A total of 2,500 tons of sturgeon meat and 10 tons of farmed caviar were produced in the last Iranian year (ended March 19, 2020), according to the deputy head of Iran's Fisheries Organization for aquaculture affairs.
Noting that demand for sturgeon fry stands at 1-2 million annually, Hossein Abdolhay added, “Demand has always outweighed sturgeon fry output. However, the recent entry of private sector players in the field of sturgeon production has solved this problem in the current year.”
The official noted that total pond area devoted to shrimp farming was 12,336 hectares last year, from which the country produced 46,000 tons of shrimp last year, IRNA reported.
Iran’s trade with the US stood at $30 million from January to August 2020 to register a more than 50% decline compared with the corresponding period of 2019.
The average goods and services Consumer Price Index of "hotels and restaurants" in the 12-month period ending Sept. 21, which marks the end of the sixth Iranian month, grew by 26% compared with last year’s corresponding period.
Iran’s Export Concentration Index, which estimates a country’s reliance on a limited group of commodities as its primary source of foreign exchange income, stood at 0.43 in 2019, about six times higher than that of Turkey and Poland.
According to a report by ILNA, citing the Economic Analysis Center of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, the high concentration score must be a concern for economic planners as it suggests the country’s trade vulnerability to changes in global demand.
The index is calculated as a sum of squared shares of products constituting a country's exports. Ranging from 0 (perfect diversification) to 1 (concentrated on a single product), a comparison of index scores to the contribution of natural resources to GDP worldwide shows that resource-rich countries tend to have a less diversified export base.
Among 13 countries surveyed by TCCIM, Iran ranks first in the index with a score of 0.43 and Turkey and Poland come last with a score of 0.07. After Turkey and Poland, the Southeast Asian country Thailand scored 0.08. It was followed by China (0.09), India (0.12), Indonesia (0.14), Mexico (0.15), Brazil (0.16), Vietnam (019), Malaysia (0.23), Georgia (0.25) and Russia (0.34).
Financial markets in Tehran on Tuesday had an uneventful session after a highly volatile day a session earlier.
Major share indices, forex and gold prices were near the flat-line for the day. Gold and dollar prices, which were pushing with unprecedented force in the past several weeks, came to a halt. The share market has been struggling for weeks to reenter the green zone after deep losses.
The US dollar in Tehran’s open market was traded at 316,000 rials the same as Monday. The euro and pound sterling posted slight decline of 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
Selected exchange bureaus, affiliated to the Central Bank of Iran, pushed up forex rates to get closer to open market rates and reduce price differences.
Bank-based moneychangers quoted the dollar at 313,000 rials, up more than 3% or 11,000 rials compared with Monday, the Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union website reported.
The government will maintain the policy of selling its shares in state-owned companies via the bourse.
Addressing economic and bank officials at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Hassan Rouhani said his government will continue in this direction to “involve the people in the economy, improve economic transparency and fight corruption [in state-run companies]”.
“Offering government shares in the capital market is in line with Article 44 [of the Constitution] and downsizing the government,” IRNA quoted him as saying.
Article 44 of the Constitution compartmentalizes the economy into three main parts, namely public, cooperative and the private. It obliges the government to transfer 80% of the shares in state-owned and affiliated companies to nongovernment entities.
In August, head of the Plan and Budget Organization Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said the government earned 170 trillion rials ($570 million) from share sales in state-run companies in the current fiscal year that ends next March. It was beyond the initial 119 trillion rials ($517m) projected in the 2020-21 fiscal budget.
The novel coronavirus pandemic has created a storm in healthcare systems around the globe, including Iran.
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