One of the enemy’s strategies is to create despair and disappointment among the Iranian people, President Ebrahim Raeisi warned.
One of the enemy’s strategies is to create despair and disappointment among the Iranian people, President Ebrahim Raeisi warned.
A senior Iranian diplomat said the United States must provide guarantees that Washington will not abandon again the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers if the Vienna talks to revive the landmark agreement succeed.
Indirect talks between Iran and the United States, which stalled in June after the election of Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, are set to resume on Nov. 29 in the Austrian capital to find ways to reinstate the deal that Washington left three years ago and reimposed tough sanctions on Iran.
Echoing Iran’s official stance in a press briefing on Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Washington must lift all sanctions imposed on Tehran by former US president Donald Trump in a verifiable process.
OPEC+ needs to be careful in implementing its policy because it needs to balance the market amid forecasts of softening demand in the first quarter of 2022, the UAE's energy minister said on Nov. 8.
The 160-megawatt steam unit of Khorramabad Combined Cycle Power Plant will come on stream next year to help improve power supply in Lorestan Province, managing director of Iran’s Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said.
The two gas units of the plant, each with a capacity of 162 MW, were launched two years ago. With the addition of the steam unit, total capacity of the power station will reach 484 MW, Bargh News also quoted Mohsen Tarztalab as saying.
“The construction of steam unit has registered 60% progress and when operational, the plant will have an efficiency of 49%,” he added.
Natural gas price hike in the household sector by 150% can help reduce demand by at least 10%, the head of Research and Development Department in the National Iranian Gas Company said.
"Per capita gas consumption in Iran is seven times higher than the global average and to address the worsening crisis, a rise in tariffs seems to be the most effective short-term solution," Mohsen Mazloum Farsibaf was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
Consumers are currently charged 0.5 cent per cubic meters on average between November and March (cold season) and tariffs rise by 500% to reach an average of 3 cents between April and September (hot season).
“Although inflation is high because the current natural gas prices are low, increasing tariffs by 2.5 times in the household sector will not adversely affect people’s purchasing power. Natural gas is different from gasoline as the latter is tightly linked to all sectors of the economy, but the former is not a contributory factor,” the official said
The government raised pump prices in Nov. 2019 by 50%, from 10,000 rials to 15,000 rials for subsidized fuel (allocating a monthly 60 liters per car) and by 200% for unsubsidized gasoline, which led to widespread public protests.
The NIGC official warned there could be a shortage of nearly 200 million cubic meters of gas in the coming winter as demand is expected to increase by 10% year-on-year.
A new report by Iran Chamber of Cooperatives shows monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index for the domestic construction sector has grown to stand above the 50 mark.
PMI in the seventh month of the current Iranian year (Sept. 23-Oct 22) settled at 56.92 from 47.73 in the preceding month (Aug. 23-Sept. 22), indicating a 19.25% increase.
PMI is an indicator of the health of economic sectors and provides information about current business conditions to decision-makers, analysts and purchasing managers.
Raw material inventory, employment conditions, new orders, supplier deliveries and export/production conditions were among the criteria quizzed, yielding a final score of between 1 and 100.
Iran’s caviar exports stood at 2.28 tons worth $1.09 million in the fiscal 2020-21 (ended March 21, 2021), says Rouhollah Latifi, spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Customs Administration, adding that the figures provided recently by an Agriculture Ministry official were inaccurate.
“Of the 12 tons of caviar produced in Iran in the year ending March 2021, 4.5 tons worth more than $6 million were exported,” Isa Golshahi, an official with Iran Fisheries Organization, was quoted as saying by IRNA recently.
“In addition, 3,500 tons of sturgeon meat were produced in Iran last year, of which 1,000 tons worth $10 million were exported.”
The Statistical Center of Iran has released data on Iran’s official job market in the current Iranian year (started March 21).
According to the findings, 59.9% of the employed population ages 15 and above were holding jobs in the official sector of the economy in 2020-21, indicating a 0.8% increase year-on-year.
In some developing countries such as Turkey and Brazil, the share stands at 71.1% and 67% compared with 36.9% and 48.3% in Egypt and Indonesia, respectively.
The employed population in the official sector was 13.94 million people in the year ending March 2021, 397,000 fewer compared to the previous year.
A total of 14.37 million tons of essential goods worth $8.8 billion were imported into Iran during the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Oct. 22), showing a respective growth of 25% and 95% compared with the similar period of last year, according to the technical deputy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
“Imports of wheat increased by 15%, barley by 91%, different kinds of oilseeds by 56%, vegetable oils by 170%, soymeal by 136% and pharmaceuticals by 3% year-on-year. Field corn was the only essential good that experienced a decline in import [19%],” Mehrdad Jamal Arvanaghi was also quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
All the imported essential goods, he added, are entitled to subsidized foreign currency at the rate of 42,000 rials per dollar.
Tehran Metro Company, the executive entity for the capital’s subway network, is in the red, owing the local banking system 370 trillion rials ($1.33 billion), while still needing funds to overhaul wagons and complete unfinished lines.
According to Mojtana Shafiei, the deputy head of Transportation and Traffic Department at Tehran Municipality, Tehran Metro’s bad debts, which have built up from years of financial crisis, make it difficult for receiving more loans, IRNA reported.
Speaking during the most recent meeting of Tehran City Council, Shafiei said the subway network is one of the most prominent means of providing urban mobility services to the public.
“The company’s debt accumulation to the banks can seriously disrupt its operations,” he added.
The official elaborated on fiscal deficiencies in the way of subway development and said the completion of under-construction subway lines requires an estimated 350 trillion rials ($1.26 billion).
Stretching over 253 kilometers across the capital, Tehran Metro constitutes seven lines, with lines 6 and 7 still under construction.
Line 6 will be the longest route in the subway network, stretching over 38 km with 27 stations upon completion. It connects Shahr-e Rey in southeast Tehran to the Sulaqan rural district in the northwest.
Senior economic, banking and capital market officials met on Monday to discuss ways to defend the financial markets.
The Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi, Central Bank of Iran chief Ali Salehabadi and head of the Securities and Exchange Organization Majid Eshqi decided to set up a joint committee to ensure polices and processes in capital and money markets are not at odds with each other, the CBI website reported.
“The joint committee should help build closer coordination among financial markets and maintain stability in the markets,” Salehabadi said.
“Money and capital market are not rivals, rather they complement each other,” the senior banker said, referring to oft-mentioned complaints by stock market investors that the CBI’s monetary and banking polices give direction stock market trends directly or otherwise.
The Guardian Council retracted an earlier decision by lawmakers that criminalizes exporters who are unable to repatriate their forex income.
The GC -- a watchdog that ensures laws are in line with the Islamic Republic Constitution and Sharia -- found the rules “in conflict with Articles 36 and 85 of the Constitution”, the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture website reported.
As per Article 36, “penalties must be enforced by a qualified court and based on law”. Likewise Article 85 bans the Majlis from relegating its authority to legislate to another group. In th exporters’ forex case the Majlis is not allowed to give the Money and Credit Council authorization to decide how to deal with defaulting exporters.
The Tehran Stock Exchange benchmark Monday pared some of the last session’s loss to close in positive territory. The market cap-weighted TEDPIX, gained 3,499.96 points or 0.24% to end trade at 1,434,392.
The TSE’s equal weighted index closed slightly above the flatline, gaining 0.06%. This index better reflects the performance of small caps.
Trade by retail investors plunged 20% to reach 58.84 trillion rials ($217 million). About 10.02 billion shares worth 60.53 trillion rials ($224.2m) changed hands at the TSE for the day.
As of Nov. 22, only vaccinated people or those carrying negative PCR test result will be permitted to travel, according to the head of Transport Safety Regulation Codification and Passive Defense Center, affiliated with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
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