President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday Tehran’s missile program was non-negotiable and that US President-elect Joe Biden is “well aware of it”.
President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday Tehran’s missile program was non-negotiable and that US President-elect Joe Biden is “well aware of it”.
Deaths caused by Covid-19 across Tehran Province have dropped, the province’s governor general said on Tuesday.
“Although we have not reached stable circumstances,” Anoushirvan Mohseni-Bandpey said, “the disease is being better managed compared to last month,” IRNA reported.
The official attributed the decline in new virus cases, hospitalizations and deaths to the safety protocols imposed in the past two months to curb virus transmission.
Long-delayed offshore drilling operations in the South Pars Gas Field Phase 11 off the Persian Gulf started Tuesday by Mapna Drilling Company, the National Iranian Oil Company’s deputy managing director said.
“Drilling rig MD-1 is at SP 11 location near the Iran-Qatar sea border,” Reza Dehqan was quoted as saying by ISNA.
An estimated 14 million cubic meters of natural gas per day is expected to be drawn from the phase by the end of 2021, he noted.
Regarding funds, he said $15 million has been invested so far and $70 million more is needed to complete the first phase of the scheme by next March. “Part of the funds will come from issuing participatory bonds.”
In doing its fair share to help preserve the environment, Nouri Petrochemical Company in Bushehr Province has signed a contract with the engineering company Namvaran to recover flare gas, managing director of Nouri company said.
“The flare gas recovery project will be completed in a little over two years and cost $48 million,” the National Petrochemical Company news website Nipna quoted Taghi Sanei as saying.
Gas flaring refers to the combustion of associated petroleum gas generated during various processes in oil and gas refineries, and petrochemical plants.
Flare gas recovery is the process of recovering waste gases that would normally be flared, so they can be used as fuel. Among other things, it results in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Iran exported $13.37 billion worth of non-oil goods to its 15 neighboring countries during the first eight months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Nov. 20), more than $8.57 billion of which went to Arab states, according to the director general for Arab and African affairs with the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.
“Iraq and the UAE were Iran’s first and second export destinations from among its neighbors. Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain came ninth, 10th, 11th and 14th,” Farzad Piltan was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official added that no exports, or imports, were made to and from Saudi Arabia during the period under review.
According to the official, due to the proximity of Arab countries to Iran, suitable port facilities, cost-effective marketing and lower expenses of taking part in exhibitions and other commercial events, as well as cultural, religious and linguistic commonalities, TPO aims to expand trade with Arab countries in the region...
The average goods and services Consumer Price Index of “leisure and culture” in the 12-month period ending Nov. 20, which marks the end of the eighth Iranian month, increased by 32.9% compared with last year’s corresponding period.
As per the fiscal 2021-22 budget bill, the government is expecting to sell 2.3 million barrels of oil per day, the same level the country used to sell in the year ending March 2018, before the reimposition of sanctions.
“Such a reliance on oil revenues in the budget bill suggests the government’s over-optimism about the lifting of sanctions next year,” said Ali Marvi, economics professor at Allameh Tabataba'i University in a write-up for the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad. Below is the translation of the full text:
The phrase “current critical situation” has been said and used so often by the officials that it has become hackneyed. But, seriously, the country’s economy is going through a sticky patch: high inflation rate, deep recession and widespread deprivation, while the prospects of continuity or removal of sanctions also remain unclear.
Bank Maskan, the state agent bank of Iran’s housing sector, paid 112,160 billion rials ($430 million) in construction and home loans during the eight months to Nov. 20.
According to Mahmoud Shayan, Bank Maskan’s managing director, of the total sum, 16,288 counts of loans worth 38,820 billion rials ($149.3 million) were paid to builders and 73,255 counts of loans worth 73,340 billion rials ($282.07 million) were doled out to home buyers.
Noting that the number of home deals in Tehran declined by 48% during the month ending Nov. 20 compared with the preceding month, the official said, “The data on the real-estate market for the third quarter of the current fiscal year [Sept. 22-Dec. 20] has yet to be published. However, there is evidence that home deals were on the decline in other cities as well. The month-on-month decline in Bank Maskan facilities for home purchases was only 22% in the month ending Nov. 20, which shows that a large number of people rely on the bank’s loans to purchase a home.”
The Majlis Research Center has called on the government postpone its rial redenomination agenda until after the economy has undergone fundamental structural reforms.
As per the ‘Reforming Monetary and Banking Law’ four zeroes will be shaved off from the national currency and the legal tender will be changed from the rial to the commonly used ‘toman’.
In a review of the anticipated change, published on its website, the parliamentary research center said removing zeroes "must be the last stage of a series of measures to reform monetary and economic structures."
The influential think tank cited examples of countries that successfully changed their national currency after making deep structural reforms,, namely controlling inflation.
"Lopping off zeroes has no impact on fundamentals of the economy, such as inflation, economic growth and improving the value of the national currency," the MRC stressed.
The Central Bank of Iran is using a smart platform to detect and block unauthorized payment gateways, developed and used by online betting and gambling websites.
“Smart detection of unauthorized payment gateways has begun. It allows us to quickly detect illegal payment gateways and block them automatically,” Mehran Mahramian, CBI's deputy for innovative technologies was quoted as saying by the CBI website.
Press reports said recently that there has been an increase in gambling and betting activities on the internet. Experts say such cyber and financial phenomenon is spreading fast and should raise the alarm, particularly in the cyber and payment sectors.
Tehran stocks extended a losing streak into the third session Tuesday amid relentless sell-off. The main index of Tehran Stock Exchange shed 55,834 points, pulling down TEDPIX by 3.8%. The index closed trade on Tuesday at 1,428,324.49.
As in the recent past, the downturn was spurred by sell side pressure in major large cap stocks as indicated in the 4.4% decline in the TSE-30 Index that tracks the performance of top 30 listed companies in terms of market capitalization.
The trend soon extended to shares of smaller listed companies, pushing down the equal-weighted index by 2.4%. Observers blame market makers and institutional traders for the excess supply of shares in three days.
The Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture has criticized the budget bill for fiscal March 2021-22 and called for rethinking.
Reflecting the opinion of specialized commissions and provincial chambers across the country, the ICCIMA in a report said private businesses are concerned about the impact of budget on macroeconomic variables and their work environment, the chamber's news website reported.
Echoing the views of a cross-section of experts, the chamber said the new budget is imbued with overestimation of revenues and called for cutting government spending.
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