Rapid Economic Turnaround Predicted

EghtesadOnline: Iran has been experiencing volatility in its foreign exchange and gold markets in the past few months, but the minister of economic affairs and finance has vowed that this is only temporary and the economy will soon be on the right track again.

News ID: ۷۸۲۲۲۳

08 April 2018

In a talk with Mehr News website published on Saturday, Masoud Karbasian also referred to a significant decline in inflation rate to a single digit, improvement in employment and a relative increase in people’s income as the government’s achievements.

But he also conceded that instability in markets and concerns about rising prices have unsettled both ordinary people and entrepreneurs.

“However, we assure business owners that the government is not indifferent and will soon return to a stable and predictable path through unity and conformity to logical fundamentals of economic behavior,” Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.

Foreign currencies and gold coins have continuously risen during the past few months to an extent that rial has dropped to an all-time low against the US dollar and the benchmark Bahar Azadi gold coin reached its highest recorded price.

The minister further sought to reassure business owners by saying that the administration aims to refrain from sudden moves that would disturb the national economic ambiance and will therefore keep away from issuing any directives or regulations that would immediately harm the economy.

“What’s more, entrepreneurs can rest assured that the government will follow up the matter of privatization with serious commitment in the current year in addition to striving to improve the climate of doing business and fighting corruption,” he said.

“Private sector businesses are less than satisfied with regulations that hurt Iran’s climate of doing business and deter foreign investors.”

Karbasian promised that the government will draft and offer clear reports on its progress in eliminating flawed regulations and has devised dozens of projects in this regard.

The other major problem of the private sector, he added, is an approach that may ignore consultation and go ahead, regardless of its potential harms.

The minister emphasized that high-level officials are keen on moving toward development and referred to the naming of the current Iranian year, which began on March 21, as the main event ensuring constructive policymaking. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has named the current year after “Support for Iranian Products”.

“The private sector is wary of the fact that sometimes individual behaviors become roadblocks to progress. No official in the Economy Ministry can and should absolve themselves of responsibility because serving the people, supporting Iranian products and helping create jobs all find meaning in supporting Iranian entrepreneurs,” he said.

He stressed that his ministry will closely watch its directors and executives at all levels this year to prevent any deviations from the regulations and dodging responsibilities.

According to Karbasian, the Economy Ministry in the current year will deploy the Iranian National Tax Administration and the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration as the main entities with the highest amount of cooperation and coordination with the private sector, chiefly through fighting corruption and avoiding overregulations.