President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday said he is hopeful that the first shipment of Covid-19 vaccine will arrive in Iran over the next few weeks.
National
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01/03/2021
Energy
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01/04/2021Concurrent with the final construction phase of Azad Dam in Kurdistan Province, executive operations for transferring water from the dam to Sanandaj Water Treatment Plant will start by the end of the current Persian calendar year (March), managing director of the provincial Regional Water Company said.
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01/04/2021Construction of a loading pier for LPG export, at Tombak Port, approximately 50 kilometers north of the port of Asalouyeh in Bushehr Province, is almost complete, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) said.
"Work started in 2014 and is due to become operational in February with the help of domestic contractors," Mohammad Meshkinfam was quoted as saying by Oil Ministry news website.
The facility includes two LPG loading arms each of which can berth ships with a capacity of 50,000 tons. It is equipped with a modern arm to load sulfur for vessels with capacities ranging from five to 50,000 tons.
Domestic Economy
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01/04/2021Iran exported 20.8 million tons of goods worth $5.9 billion to Iraq during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Dec. 20, 2020), registering a 15% decline in value compared with the similar period of last year.
“Iran’s exports to the neighboring country have averaged at $650 million per month so far this year, while the figure for the same period of last year stood at $750 million per month. This shows a $100 million decline in average monthly exports,” Hamid Hosseini, a member of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors, was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
The official added that Iran’s exports to Iraq have not experienced a significant decline in weight over the period, but the types of goods exported have changed.
“Our industrial exports have experienced a fall and instead, mineral and agricultural exports have increased,” he said. -
01/04/2021A total of $619 million worth of goods have been exported from Markazi Province since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 20).
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01/04/2021The Statistical Center of Iran’s new report reviews Iran’s economy in the second quarter of the current fiscal year (June 21-Sept. 21).
Highlights of the report followed by more details culled from the center’s earlier report are as follows:
1. Gross domestic product (when constant prices of the year ending March 2012 are used) stood at 1,798,755 billion rials (about $70 billion) in Q2, indicating a 0.2% growth compared with the corresponding period of last year. Economic growth, excluding oil, saw a 0.2% decline.
The agriculture sector saw a 2.7% expansion; industries and mining grew by 4% while industries and mining sector, excluding oil expanded by 4.2%. The services sector, however, contracted by 3% in Q2. -
01/04/2021The Joint Commission of Iranian Parliament has voted in favor of changing the foreign exchange rate for the import of essential goods from 42,000 rials to 175,000 rials per dollar, suggesting that the prices of essential imports should be set in accordance with the exchange rate prevailing in the so-called secondary FX market, known by its Persian name Nima.
The real market price of the dollar is around 60% higher.
According to Rahim Zare’, the commission’s spokesman, the move is aimed at unifying the exchange rates, preventing the supply of imports at free market rate and fighting rent-seeking and corrupt practices.
“Importers used to sell their products at prices determined by the free market despite the government’s allocation of subsidized forex at the rate of 42,000 rials per US dollar,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The government’s revenues are projected to increase by 400 trillion rials ($1.55 billion), provided the commission’s proposal is approved by the parliament in an open session. -
01/04/2021A total of 2,374,344 passengers (2,105,375 Iranians and 268,969 foreign nationals) arrived in Iran during the eight months to Nov. 20, indicating an 85.35% decline compared with the corresponding period of last year, says Arezoo Ghanniyun, an official with the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
She added that outbound passenger traffic also decreased by 85.16% to reach 2,295,091 during the period.
“Closure of borders, business suspension, leisure, religious trips and strict quarantine measures taken to contain the transmission of Covid-19 caused the dramatic decline in passenger traffic,” she was quoted as saying by IRIB News.
Business & Markets
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01/04/2021The Central Bank of Iran's underperformance in notifying clear export repatriation rules and lack of a comprehensive data platform to track export repatriation commitments are causing concern for Iranian exporters, a poll by the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture showed.
TCCIM talked to 775 exporters and asked their views about the performance of the CBI with regard to the mandatory but apparently controversial export reparation rules.
They expressed resentment about long list of unhelpful CBI bylaws and its inability to inform them "in a timely manner" about new rules guiding the return of export earnings.
Businesses time and again complain about the rate at which the CBI issues directives and changes regulations, some of which overlap and contradict each other. -
01/04/2021Insurance companies in Iran generated 48.01 trillion rials ($192 million) in premium during the first eight months of the fiscal year (March-Nov 2020) up 23.9% compared to the same period last year.
The Central Insurance company of Iran (CII), the industry regulator, released the performance report after months of delay. Third-party auto insurance, as usual, accounted for the maximum premium income -- more than one-third of the total.
During the period under the review, insurance companies earned 16.3 trillion rials ($65.2 million) from 15.24 million third-party vehicle insurance policies, marking a 30% growth in value and 5.45% increase in the number of policies sold.
The mandatory third-party auto insurance has been a vital source of income for insurance companies contrary to the industry's long and mid-term development agenda.
Struggling with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their business, insurers' income from medical insurance declined by 18% to 8.4 trillion rials ($33.6m). The CII report said more than 258,000 medical insurance policies were sold during the eight months -- down 92.5% compared to the same period last year.
Medical insurance share of the overall income declined to 17% during the period. Surprisingly, life insurance premium experienced 40% growth. Insurers made 7.2 trillion rials ($28.8 m) through from 4.5 million life insurance policies. Life insurance accounted for 15.08% of industry's premium income, getting closer to the set targets. -
01/04/2021After heavy losses a session earlier, most indicators at Tehran's share market closed slightly above the flatline on Sunday, thanks to institutional traders' tilt on the buy side.
Both the market cap-weighted index of the Tehran Stock Exchange, TEDPIX, and the equal-weighted index gained 0.1%. TEDPIX, the TSE's main gauge, gained 1,328 points to end trading at 1,355,475.
About 9.72 billion shares valued at 109.08 trillion rials ($419.54 million) changed hands at TSE. The Social Security Investment Company contributed the most to the benchmark's fall, followed by Esfahan Oil Refining Company, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines Company and Bandar Abbas Oil Refining Company.
Science and Technology
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01/04/2021Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University has opened 10 innovation centers to strengthen ties between the academia and Iran’s startup ecosystem.
Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari inaugurated the tech centers in a ceremony on Tuesday, which was attended by the university’s chancellor, Sa’dollah Nassiri Qeidari, the head of the university’s tech park, Kourosh Parand, senior officials and professors, the vice presidential office’s website reported.
Established with the financial support of vice presidential office, the innovation centers are specialized in medical technologies, human sciences, computer engineering, psychology, geology, urban development, literature, theology, architecture and power engineering.
Tech teams in the centers have an opportunity to interact with the university’s scientific faculty and students, and to exchange experiences. They will be able to benefit from the startup accelerators and growth centers in the university’s tech park.
In his brief speech to the gathering, Sattari promised that the vice presidential office will offer financial aid to tech teams for developing and commercializing their innovative ideas. -
01/04/2021Iranian Space Research Center handed over Pars1 satellite to Iranian Space Agency on Saturday after the satellite successfully completed all tests.
The handover was conducted in a ceremony attended by the head of ISRC, Hossein Samimi, and ISA chief, Morteza Barari, Mehr News reported.
The center and the agency are both affiliated with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies.
