Head of the Iran-China friendship association called for faster implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan between the two countries.
Head of the Iran-China friendship association called for faster implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan between the two countries.
Despite freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls in different parts of Iran, which have led to a record high gas consumption, the gas grid is stable throughout the country, although a slight pressure drop can be seen at some endpoints, and only subscribers in Torbat Jam County, Khorasan Razavi Province, suffered gas outage, the oil minister said.
Referring to measures taken for the 17,000 subscribers of Torbat Jam, which are deprived of gas, Javad Owji added that since Saturday (Jan. 15) the distribution of kerosene and gas cylinders has started for free in the city, and nearly 17,000 electric and oil heaters have been distributed by the National Iranian Gas Company among subscribers,” the Oil Ministry’s news service Shana reported.
The minister noted that he has issued an order to strengthen the transmission of Torbat Jam gas from the city of Fariman or Mashhad, so that this problem does not occur next year.
The Energy Ministry has approved the transfer of 50 million cubic meters of water from the Shahriar Dam in Mianeh County, East Azarbaijan Province, to Ardabil Province, the representative of Ardabil, Nir, Namin and Sareyn in the parliament said.
As long as the Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-money laundering watchdog, does not remove Iran from its blacklist, the country cannot have a say in the global oil and gas markets, an energy analyst said.
"Pinning hopes on attracting foreign investments without joining the global banking system is nothing more than wishful thinking," Mahmoud Khaqani, a member of the Iranian Association of Energy Economics, was quoted as saying by ILNA.
If Iran cannot give long-term banking guarantees to international companies, it is very unlikely that they would show any interest in cooperating with Iranian firms, he added.
The official noted that the current policy of not complying with FATF regulations has isolated Iran and it cannot play any role in regional or global oil and gas developments.
“Since the onset of military conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, oil and gas exporting states, such as Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and the Persian Gulf littoral states, have multiplied their oil and gas revenues by capturing Iran’s market share,” he said.
The National Iranian Gas Company has restricted compressed natural gas delivery to pumps across the nation, especially in northern provinces namely North Khorasan, Golestan, South Khorasan, Mazandaran and Khorasan Razavi, the head of the CNG Department of state-run National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company said.
“As long as household gas consumption is above 650 million cubic meters per day, CNG stations all over the country have to be either closed or operate part time,” Mohammad Hossein Baqeri was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Gas consumption in households has surpassed 700 mcm/d and NIGC has already cut fuel supply to thermal power plants, industries and petrochemical plants, he added.
Sari Guni gold mine is Iran’s biggest producer of the precious metal with proven reserves of 41 million tons of 24.1-carat gold and an annual output of 5 tons, according to a local official in the western Kurdestan Province where the mine is located.
The mine was inaugurated by former president, Hassan Rouhani, in August 2020 via videoconference. It came on stream with an investment of 3 trillion rials ($7.5 million at the current exchange rate), and is said to have put 350 people to work.
Speaking at the inaugural event, Rouhani said Iran’s gold ingot output registered a 14-fold jump in the past seven years.
Former deputy industries minister, Darioush Esmaeili, who was also present at the inauguration, noted that Iran is ahead of schedule in gold production.
Trade between Iran and the Economic Cooperation Organization’s member states reached 16.71 million tons worth $12.8 billion during the current Iranian year’s first nine months (March 21-Dec. 21), registering a 28.06% fall in terms of weight, but a 9.01% rise in terms of value compared with last year’s corresponding period, latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show.
Turkey was Iran’s main trade partner among the countries under review with 8.37 million tons (down 42.74%) worth $8.28 billion (down 43.35%). It was followed by Pakistan with 3.04 million tons (up 28%) worth $1.67 billion (up 52.26%) and Afghanistan with 2.51 million tons (down 24.6%) worth $1.23 billion (down 13%).
Iran’s exports to ECO members reached 13.09 million tons worth $7.38 billion during the nine months ending Dec. 21, registering a 34.05% and a 3.3% decline in terms of weight and value YOY, respectively.
Turkey with 5.7 million tons (down 51.2%) worth $3.82 billion (down 7.48%), Afghanistan with 2.5 million tons (down 24.91%) worth $1.21 billion (down 13.91%) and Pakistan with 2.44 million tons (up 12.78%) worth $1 billion (up 10.71%) were the top export destinations.
A total of 10.4 million tons of foreign goods were transited through Iran from the beginning of the current Iranian year on March 21 to Dec. 21, according to Mohammad Rezvanifar, director general of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
The official noted that the transit volume shows an 8.6% rise compared to last year’s corresponding period, Fars News Agency reported.
Shahid Rajaee Port in the southern Hormozgan Province accounts for the largest share of foreign goods transited via Iran.
The port, which has a loading/unloading capacity of 100 million tons per year, accounts for over half of Iran's trade and about two-thirds of total freight transit through the country. It is Iran’s biggest commercial port.
With 18 gantry cranes and 40 berths, Rajaee is the most advanced container port of Iran.
Launched in 1985, the port has expanded every year and is currently connected to 80 ports worldwide.
A total of 1,800 units of different kinds of agricultural, construction and mining machinery were produced during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Dec. 21), according to Abouzar Jamshidvand, an official with the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade.
A total of 900 such machinery were produced in the corresponding period of last year, he added, noting that the production volume has doubled this year, IRIB News reported.
He noted that Iran meets about 80% of its machinery requirements from domestic production.
According to the official, there are 26 producers of such machinery in Iran.
The government is projecting the sales of crude oil and its derivatives to earn 6,030 trillion rials ($14.75 billion) in the budget bill for the upcoming Iranian year (March 2023-24).
President Ebrahim Raisi submitted the budget bill to the parliament on Jan. 11 about one month late, as it is due on the 15th of the ninth Iranian month every year, which fell on Dec. 6, 2022, this year.
The main figures in the bill include 19,840 trillion rials ($48.55 billion) allocated as operating budget (including revenues derived mainly from taxation and exports at the disposal of the government), plus 1,800 trillion rials ($4.4 billion) as revenues exclusively for ministries and governmental institutions, which bring the total sum of the general budget to 21,640 trillion rials ($52.96 billion).
The budget of state companies, banks and for-profit organizations has been put at 30,976 trillion rials ($75.81 billion).
In today’s economy, the so-called “waiting period for owning a home” index has gradually become an important, thought-provoking indicator. One of the key duties of governments is to shorten this period and pave the way for all citizens to buy their own home.
The realization of this goal first depends on increasing the productivity of labor force and their wages, and then on the government’s ability to safeguard the housing market from the manipulation and intervention of profiteers through supervision.
Article 31 of the Iranian Constitution views housing as the universal right of Iranians and obliges the government to lay the foundation for achieving this lofty goal. However, more than four decades since the adoption of the Constitution, you can say that this article has been forgotten; governments have not been successful in this matter. As a result, the waiting time for owning a house has increased gradually; now we are speaking of the waiting period of a hundred years or even more. Nasser Zakeri, an economist, prefaced his write-up for the Persian daily Shargh with this note. A translation of the text follows:
Tehran’s share market wrapped up the week on Wednesday up almost 2.24%.
The loan to deposit ratio (LDR) declined for nine months to December 22 by 82.4%, which was 0.3 percentage points lower than the beginning of the fiscal year last March at 83%, the Central Bank of Iran reported on its website.
The ratio was 1 percentage points higher from the same period last year. LDR is used to assess a bank's liquidity by comparing the total loans to total deposits for a specific period and is expressed in percentage.
If the ratio is too high, the bank may not have enough liquidity to cover unforeseen fund requirements. Conversely, if the ratio is too low, the bank may not be earning as much as it should be.
The CBI, however, noted that the LDR was not consistent across provinces. In Tehran Province it was 91.4% and in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province 110.9
Trade at the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) is expected to exceed 10,000 trillion rials ($24.63 billion) by the end of the current fiscal year in March, Hamed Soltani Nejad, the IME head said.
"Trade was up 40% in the first three quarters of this year" SENA quoted him as saying.
According to Soltani Nejad, “inflation had no significant role in the growth rates.” He did not elaborate.
Referring to auto sale at IME as a key contributing factor in market growth, even though "hardly 3-4% of the auto sales take place via the IME." Local media reports in the past two days said car sales via this market have been suspended until further notice.
However, the Competition Council later denied making any decision about suspending auto offers at IME, saying that it has not yet made any decision in this regard.
Banks and credit institutions are mandated to allocate up to 2,000 trillion rials ($4.92 billion) in interest-free lending for government programs including loans to newlyweds, for childbirth and to support needy families.
This is included in the budget bill for fiscal March 2023-24 submitted by President Ebrahim Raisi to the parliament last week.
Banks are obliged to lend in the form of as Qarz-ol-Hassanah schemes (interest-free microcredit) amid valid concerns about the detrimental impact of mandatory lending on the already troubled banking industry.
Economists and senior bankers have always censured policy and decision making bodies for imposing the extra burden and massive obligations on banks to keep lending beyond their ability and capacity.
The subsidized loan schemes demanded from banks has undermined their already overstretched financial resources.
A special taskforce to integrate efforts for regulating cryptocurrencies has been set up by the government.
The National Taskforce of Cryptocurrencies held its first meeting in Tehran last week to debate the implementation of the recently approved cryptomining regulations, Way2pay website reported at the weekend.
It was established on recommendation by President Ebrahim Raisi and will function under the auspices of the Vice Presidency for Economic Affairs and will convene twice a month.
The declared aim of the group is to enhance coordination between state bodies and institutions relevant to crypto. The Central Bank of Iran, Ministry of Intelligence, Oil Ministry, Energy Ministry, Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade and the Ministry of Economy are among members of the taskforce.
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday after a series of mistakes made her position in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government untenable.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol received an honor guard welcome Sunday on a trip to the United Arab Emirates as he hopes to expand its military sales here.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter.
More from DEN Media Group:
© Financial Tribune Daily and Contributors 2014-2018