The European Union cannot list Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps as a “terrorist entity” until an EU court has determined that they are, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said on Monday.
National
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01/24/2023
Energy
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01/24/2023The National Iranian Oil Company is projected to sell 1.4 million barrels per day of crude oil at $85 as per the budget law of next Iranian year (March 2023-24), partly by using a barter system.
President Ebrahim Raisi made the statement in a speech addressing the parliament members on Sunday, ISNA reported.
"The next year's budget bill has predicted oil barter to produce income," he added.
A general draft of next year's budget bill was approved by the parliament on Jan. 22.
Domestic Economy
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01/24/2023The latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show the annualized inflation reported by the center on a monthly basis has reached a new high.
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01/24/2023Many experts believe that the newly-unveiled budget bill for the fiscal 2023-24 suffers from countless structural problems. It is neither operational, nor conducive to productivity. With a high operational budget and low expenditure budget, I believe there is no need to review the details of the bill, because it lacks transparency, Mohammad Reza Monjazeb, an economic expert, said in a write-up for the Persian daily Ta’adol.
The Iranian Parliament passed the outlines of next year’s budget bill, which was submitted earlier this month by President Ebrahim Raisi on Jan. 22.
The main figures in the bill include 19,840 trillion rials ($44 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 billion) as revenues exclusive to ministries and governmental institutions, which bring the total sum of the general budget to 21,640 trillion rials ($48 billion). The budget of state companies, banks and for-profit organizations has been put at over 30,976 trillion rials ($68.8 billion). All in all, the ceiling set for the government’s total budget is at over 52,616 trillion rials ($116.9 billion).
All the figures indicate a significant increase compared to those in the current fiscal 2022-23 budget, which considering the high inflation rate in Iran is not unusual. -
01/24/2023Shortage of gas has become a major headache for the steel industry, as curbs on gas supplies have intensified since last year so much so that direct-reduced iron production units have had to close down under severe restrictions, which has consequently affected the steel industry, according to Vahid Yaqoubi, an executive manager of the Iranian Steel Producers Association.
“Due to gas and electricity supply restrictions, we fell behind by about 6 million tons from our steel production plans last year [March 2021-22],” he was quoted as saying by the news portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture last week.
The sharp drop in temperatures across Iran in recent weeks has led to an unprecedented increase in energy consumption, which is also blamed on the cheap price of gas in the country. This is while Iran has lost gas import from Turkmenistan due to problems in the Central Asian country’s domestic network. As a result, gas supply to industries was curtailed to meet the growing needs of households. -
01/24/2023The Planning and Resources Management Department of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development has released new data on the volume of cargo and passenger traffic via three modes of transportation during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Dec. 21).
A total of 382 million tons of cargo were transported via road in Iran during the period, registering a 2% rise compared with the similar period of last year.
This is the highest volume registered during the first nine months of the past 10 years, News.mrud.ir reported.
The report added that 7 million tons of foreign goods were transited through Iran via road during the same period, indicating a 4% year-on-year rise.
The highest transit volume via road during the first nine months of the past 10 years was registered in the fiscal 2014-15 with 9.2 million tons
Business & Markets
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01/24/2023Tehran Stock Exchange's main index, TEDPIX, gained 1,024.81 points or 0.06% on Monday to end at 1,653,948.58. The TSE equal-weighted index gained 0.53%.
About 15.33 billion shares worth 87.8 trillion rials ($302.85 million) changed hands for the day. Trading at TSE and over-the-counter Iran Fara Bourse starts on Saturday and ends Wednesday.
Goltash Company led the winner’s list as its shares jumped 6.98% to 5,980 rials per share. Khavar Spring Manufacturer Company was the big loser among all TSE-listed companies plunging 4.51% to 11,430 rials per share.
Iran Khodro Company had the most negative impact on TEDPIX, followed by Middle East Mines and Mineral Industries Development Holding Company, Esfahan Oil Refining Company and Social Security Investment Company.
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01/24/2023More than 499,000 checks bounced in the ninth fiscal month ending Dec. 22, up 0.6% on the previous month. The checks were worth 338 trillion rials ($804.7 million), posting 1.6% decline on a monthly basis, the Central Bank of Iran reported.
Bad checks accounted for 6.9% of total drawn checks and 8.5% of the volume of all checks issued in the month.
In the corresponding period last year, 8.3% and 9.9% of the volume and value of all drawn checks were rejected. Bad checks accounted for 7.1% and 9.3% of the total drawn checks in the eighth month of the calendar year in terms of volume and value, respectively.
Almost 148,000 checks worth 142 trillion rials ($338 million) were rejected in Tehran Province accounting for 6.4% and 7.2% of the volume and value of all drawn checks, respectively.
Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad Province topped the list of provinces with the highest ratio of bad checks to transacted checks at 10.91%, followed by Ilam (10.3%) and North Khorasan with 10.1% -
01/24/2023The governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Mohammad Reza Farzin, said the bank has gained access to a big part of its blocked assets in some foreign countries and is using it to control currency rates.
"Stability in the markets is CBI’s top priority…We held constructive negotiations with our trading partners in recent weeks, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, China and Iraq.
A big part of our frozen assets became accessible as the result of the talks," Farzin told state TV late on Sunday.
"On Sunday we supplied the Nima market with $300 million from the $10 billion of our assets in Trade Bank of Iraq," he said, "We will continue to offer forex via Nima for imports."
Nima is an online platform affiliated to the CBI where exporters sell their overseas currency and companies buy for importing goods, machinery, equipment and raw material.
The senior banker added that foreign currency held in China were not attractive for importers in the Nima platform. "Allocation of resources from China [blocked due to the US sanctions] used to take almost 21 days…We have reduced that period now to 48 hours and these resources are also being purchased via Nima."
