Hassan Rouhani: Divestment Policy Here to Stay

The government will maintain the policy of selling its shares in state-owned companies via the bourse.
Addressing economic and bank officials at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Hassan Rouhani said his government will continue in this direction to “involve the people in the economy, improve economic transparency and fight corruption [in state-run companies]”. 
“Offering government shares in the capital market is in line with Article 44 [of the Constitution] and downsizing the government,” IRNA quoted him as saying. 
Article 44 of the Constitution compartmentalizes the economy into three main parts, namely public, cooperative and the private. It obliges the government to transfer 80% of the shares in state-owned and affiliated companies to nongovernment entities. 
In August, head of the Plan and Budget Organization Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said the government earned 170 trillion rials ($570 million) from share sales in state-run companies in the current fiscal year that ends next March. It was beyond the initial 119 trillion rials ($517m) projected in the 2020-21 fiscal budget.