The number of patients hospitalized due to Covid-19 is slowly rising in the capital of Tehran, with health officials warning of a return of restrictions if hospitalizations continue to increase.
The number of patients hospitalized due to Covid-19 is slowly rising in the capital of Tehran, with health officials warning of a return of restrictions if hospitalizations continue to increase.
A senior Iranian diplomat on Saturday rejected any new negotiations or changes to the participants of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, after French President Emmanuel Macron said any new talks should include Saudi Arabia.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei visited the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini in the early hours of Sunday to pay tribute to the late founder of the Islamic Republic.
The third steam unit of Shirvan Combined Cycle Power Plant in Shirvan County, North Khorasan Province, was launched Sunday.
Producing 160 megawatts, the unit cost $205 million and will supply sustainable electricity to help economic development in the northeast regions, IRNA reported.
“Iranian engineers built the unit in its entirety,” director of combined cycle power plant projects at the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said. It will play a key role in power supply as the population grows along with industries and the agricultural sector, Alireza Nasrollahi said.
Natural gas is the feedstock of the plant but it can use diesel if gas deliveries decline, the official said, adding that two storage tanks with total capacity of 40,000 cubic meters have been built for diesel and ensure the plant does not face disruptions.
If all goes well water from Koochari Dam in central Isfahan Province will be transferred to Saveh County in Markazi Province in two years, the representative of Saveh and Zarandieh counties in the Majlis said.
“The water supply project from Koochari Dam to Saveh and villages along the way needs 130 km of transmission lines. On completion it will transfer 440 liters of water per second to 300,000 people,” Mohammad Sabzi was quoted as saying by ISNA.
“So far 14 km of the pipes have been laid and 20 km will be added soon,” he said, adding that the rest of the project (96 km) will be carried out by private firms.
Water stored in dams across Iran has reached 26.63 billion cubic meters, which is 1% less than the same time last year, the Energy Ministry news portal Paven reported.
A total of 877,393 tons of non-oil goods worth $518.7 million were exported from the northern Gilan Province’s customs terminal during the first 10 months of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2020-Jan. 19), showing a 33% and 46% rise in weight and value respectively compared with the similar period of last year.
“Our exports mainly included vegetable, minerals, food, textile and plastic products that were mainly shipped to Russia, Azerbaijan Republic, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Afghanistan and Iraq,” Abolqasem Yousefinejad, superintendent of Gilan Customs Administration, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official noted that imports into the province over the same 10-month period stood at 1.43 million tons worth $799.43 million, indicating a YOY increase of 32% and 7% in volume and value respectively.
The average goods and services Consumer Price Index of “housing and utilities (water, electricity, natural gas and other fuels)” in the 12-month period ending Jan. 19, which marks the end of the 10th Iranian month, increased by 24.4% compared with last year’s corresponding period.
Unemployment rate for university graduates stood at 14.3% in the third quarter of the current fiscal year (Sept. 22-Dec. 20, 2020), posting a 3.1% year-on-year decrease.
First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said a total of 122 million tons of goods were handled at Iranian ports during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year (March 20-Jan. 19).
Speaking during a visit to Imam Khomeini Port in the southern Khuzestan Province, Jahangiri didn’t say how the volume of throughput fared compared with last year’s corresponding period, Fars News Agency reported on Saturday.
A total of 9.13 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded at Iranian ports in the ninth month of the current Iranian year (Nov. 21-Dec. 20, 2020), indicating an 18.8% decline compared with the same month of the year before, Tasnim News Agency cited the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran as reporting.
Loading and unloading of essential goods, however, increased by 23.4% during the month under review to stand at 1.84 million tons.
Those of metals increased by 21.2%, while those of construction materials and minerals decreased 17.5%, machinery 35.8%, fertilizers and chemicals 28.4%, leather 9.4%, containerized cargo 85.98% and petroleum products 4.6% year-on-year.
Jahangiri described Imam Khomeini as “one of the most important ports of Iran and the main hub of essential goods imports”.
Covid-19 PCR testing will be conducted for all international travelers upon their arrival in Iran, according to Shahram Adamnejad, deputy minister of roads and urban development.
Iran exported 6.12 million tons of agricultural and food products worth over $6 billion during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year (March 20-Dec. 20).
The figures indicate a respective rise of 22.65% and 48.27% in tonnage and value compared with last year’s corresponding period, the Agriculture Ministry’s website reported.
Fresh and dried pistachio topped the list of exports in terms of value, as the country exported $1.05 billion worth of the crop from Q1 to Q3.
Tomato was the second major agricultural export product in terms of value with $630.6 million, followed by apple with $272.98 million, onion and shallot with $265.15 million and grapes with $217.84 million.
In terms of tonnage, tomato topped the list with 758,790 tons, followed by watermelon with 639,980 tons, potato with 554,530 tons, apples with 379,120 tons and onion and shallot with 373,250 tons.
More than 39 trillion rials ($160.82 million) in security deposit assistance loans have been paid to 343,444 applicants as of Jan. 27, a deputy minister of roads and urban development said.
“The deadline for offering security deposit assistance loans has been extended until Feb. 18,” Parvaneh Aslani was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The interest-only security deposit loans worth 500 million rials ($2,061) in Tehran, 300 million rials ($1,237) in large cities with a population of over one million, namely Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, Tabriz, Qom, Ahvaz and Kermanshah, and 150 million rials ($618) in other Iranian cities will be paid in the name of tenants to landlords.
Iran Aseman Airline, the country's third largest carrier by active fleet size, affiliated to the Civil Servants Pension Organization, is planning initial public offering, the company's CEO said.
Banks lent 191 trillion rials ($800 million) to 763 knowledge-based companies in the first nine months (March 20-Dec. 20, 2020) of current fiscal year. This was an increase of 128% year-year, the Central Bank of Iran website said.
Three banks topped the list. The privatized Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat Iran, and state-owned Bank Melli Iran together accounted for more than half of the loans.
A large portion came from Bank Sederat Iran with 35.3 trillion rials ($147m). Bank Mellat and Bank Melli gave 33.2 trillion rials ($138m) and 30.5 trillion rials ($127m), respectively.
Major currencies continued to advance in open markets on Sunday extending gains a session earlier.
Broad money supply reached 31,300.2 trillion ($130 billion) at the end of third quarter of the current fiscal year on Dec. 20, indicating 38.4% Y/Y growth.
The Central Bank of Iran in a report said the amount is 2.2 percentage points higher than the first half of the year ending Sept. 21. Money supply jumped 26.6% since the beginning of the current fiscal year in March when it was 24,721.5 trillion rials ($103b).
As for the main components of money supply, the CBI said the share of money (M1) stood at 6,170 trillion rials (25.7b) by Dec. 20 or 69.8% higher compared to the same period last year. M1 increased 44.4% in nine months.
The total value of banknotes and coins in circulation was 642.2 trillion rials ($2.6b) by Dec. 20 -- 21.7% higher compared to the same period last year. It was up 5% over nine months since the beginning of the fiscal year.
The state-backed Omid Entrepreneurship Fund has paid 28 trillion rials ($112 million) in loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises, knowledge-based companies and startups since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 2020).
Ali As’habi, the head of OEF’s Empowerment Office, said aid packages are extended to businesses active in the fields of tourism, information and communications technologies, and agriculture, which could create 63,000 jobs, ISNA reported.
“Of the total loans, 18% have been paid to 2,100 eco-lodges and tourism centers, and ICT units received 12%,” he added.
The fund has also boosted research and development in fledgling companies and startups with loans worth 5 billion rials ($20,000), in addition to allocating low-interest loans worth 4 billion rials ($16,000) to business units for renting or equipping workspaces.
As’habi noted that a share of the financial aid was earmarked for small agricultural and mining business units that were inoperative or semi-active.
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