New Year

EghtesadOnline: The Cabinet has set 12 million rials ($88.8) in annual perks for government employees and pensioners paid before the onset of the Iranian New Year with their salary for 11th month of the Iranian year (Jan. 21-Feb. 19), Mehdi Qamsarian, the spokesman of Plan and Budget Organization said.

EghtesadOnline: China is struggling to contain rising public anger over its response to a spreading coronavirus even as it took unprecedented steps to slow the outbreak, restricting travel for 30 million people on the eve of Lunar New Year. The turmoil comes as the virus is proving more difficult to contain than other pandemics, stymieing efforts to track infected patients before they travel, Bloomberg reported.

EghtesadOnline: Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has named the new Iranian year, which began on March 21, the year of "Boosting Production" to help shore up Iran's sanctions-hit economy without reliance on other countries.