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Iran’s rial starts recovering losses as government injects $55 mln: Report

Reports from local media in Iran suggest the country’s foreign currency market is witnessing signs of stability after a government decision to inject tens of millions of dollars into the market caused prices of international currencies to fall.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency said in a report that the rial was recovering in late trade on Tuesday hours after hitting lows never seen in decades.

The rial was trading at 196,000 against the dollar in the market in downtown Tehran, said the report, adding that prices would further drop as people were queuing to sell their foreign banknotes.

The rial had fallen as much as 205,000 against the greenback in the early morning trade on Tuesday, the lowest seen for the currency ever.

Tasnim said the rebound was mainly because an exchange dealer linked to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) had started injecting some $55 million to the market to bring the prices down.


Iran pressing exporters to bring back hard currency to forex market
Iran is pressing merchants to return 27.5 billion euros earned from exports to the forex market.

The injection came after president Hassan Rouhani said that the shock felt in the foreign exchange market was temporary and balance would soon return to the market.

Rouhani said that soaring prices had no economic logic and were in line with efforts to create an unrealistic anxiety among people.

Experts said currency prices would further fall in the upcoming days as the CBI would continue injections while it is forcing the hands of businesses involved in exports to bring their hard currency into a secondary market for currency exchange.

The CBI said in a statement on Tuesday that exporters who have refused to exchange the hard currency earned from foreign trade would have their names and identities publicized in the media if they fail to bring the money into the secondary market until July 21.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/06/23/628106/Iran-currency-price-government-injection
 
CBI Chief Dismisses IMF's Forecast of Iran's Economy

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TEHRAN (FNA)- Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnasser Hemmati categorically dismissed a recent forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about Iran's economy.
"Even CBI's most negative scenarios cannot confirm the forecast of minus six percent economic growth for Iran," Hemmati said in reaction to IMF's forecast.

In its very recent forecast on world economy, IMF has said that Iran's Gross Domestic Product, GDP, will decline by about six percent in 2020.

"IMF has made a mistake as it did so last year," the CBI governor added.

On Wednesday, the IMF slashed its forecast for annual global economic growth as the coronavirus cases spike in the US and developing countries.

The IMF is now projecting global economic gross domestic product (GDP) to fall 4.9 percent in 2020, 1.9 percentage points higher than the 3-percent decline the international lender projected in April, The Hill reported.

While the IMF expects global GDP growth to rebound to 5.4 percent next year, that rate is still 6.5 percentage points below the growth level projected by the IMF in January.

The emergence of the pandemic and the shutdowns imposed to fight it will cost the global economy more than $12 trillion over the next two years, said IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath in a Wednesday article.

“The COVID-19 pandemic pushed economies into a Great Lockdown, which helped contain the virus and save lives, but also triggered the worst recession since the Great Depression,” Gopinath wrote.

“Over 75 percent of countries are now reopening at the same time as the pandemic is intensifying in many emerging market and developing economies. Several countries have started to recover. However, in the absence of a medical solution, the strength of the recovery is highly uncertain and the impact on sectors and countries uneven,” she added.

The IMF’s dire projections come amid increasing concern about the economic blow of rising coronavirus cases across much of the US and countries with far less developed medical infrastructures.

The daily number of new COVID-19 cases in the US is the highest it has been since April as several states around the country experience spikes in cases, according to data released by Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious disease expert, called the increases “disturbing” during testimony before a House committee Tuesday, urging swift action to help slow the spread and track outbreaks in US hot spots.

“Right now, the next couple of weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surgings that we’re seeing in Florida, in Texas, in Arizona and in other states,” Fauci told the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The US struggle to prevent broader outbreaks comes as developing countries abroad stare down staggering increases.

The deepening anxiety about the path of pandemic also shook Wall Street on Wednesday.


https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990406000173
 
Imports of 2,500 products banned in a quarter
  1. Economy
July 5, 2020 - 13:0


TEHRAN- Iranian Acting Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Hossein Modares Khiabani said that the imports of 2,500 commodities have been prohibited during the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20), Shata reported.

Speaking in an open session of the parliament on Sunday, the official released a report on the quarterly performance of his ministry and said the imports of 1,500 products had been banned during the past calendar year, while the figure was 2,500 items just for the first quarter of this year.

For the moment, 85 percent of the imported items are raw materials, and the rest 15 percent are the consumer products, Modares Khiabani added.

Mentioning the motto of the current Iranian calendar year, which is “Surge in Production”, the official said, "We are following up the objective of surge in production through four specified ways.”

Since the re-imposition of the U.S. sanction, Iran has been focusing on the promotion of domestic production and limiting the imports in order to move the economy toward self-sufficiency and resilience.

In early April, Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry outlined its major programs for supporting the domestic production in the current Iranian year that is named the year of “Surge in Production” by the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Developing technology and promoting knowledge-based industries, development of domestic production in line with the Leader’s stresses on surge in production, managing imports and development of non-oil exports, improving the business environment, development of financing and investment and finally development of logistics were reported to be the seven major axes of the Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry’s works in the current year.

As announced by the previous Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani in mid-April, the country’s production units need 700 trillion rials (over $16.6 billion) of investment to realize the “Surge in Production” intended by the Leader.

“Unlike other ministries, we don’t need the government’s direct investment to carry out industrial projects; the mentioned 700-trillion rials resources are not going to be given to the ministry, but will be injected directly into various production units across the country,” Rahmani said.

“The needed funds will be provided through banks, stock exchange, the National Development Fund (NDF), and investment funds,” he said, adding “we expect the growth in the country’s industrial sector to become positive by the end of the current [Iranian calendar] year (ends on March 20, 2021).”

Referring to the great capacities of the country’s industrial and mining production sectors, the official said: "Industry is one of the major sectors of Iran's economy, as the share of industry, mining and trade sectors in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is about 35 percent, and it also accounts for 30 percent of employment in the country."

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/449617/Imports-of-2-500-products-banned-in-a-quarter

Great news!
 
Have they made a final decision whether they are going to slash zeroes or not ?
 
Iran-China deal to ditch dollar, bypass US sanctions: Leader’s advisor
Monday, 13 July 2020 8:37 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 14 July 2020 7:21 AM ]

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An illustration depicting Iranian and Chinese flags
An advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says a pending roadmap for strategic partnership between Iran and China is to help ditch the dollar in bilateral trade and bypass illegal and unilateral US sanctions.

Ali Aqa-Mohammadi said the 25-year document is more than an “agreement” which usually encompass just a certain issue.

The official said the partnership roadmap solidifies the two countries’ economic and defensive cooperation by protecting their dealings from “third-party intervention.”

It would “close up and eliminate the key spots,” where sanctions, including those targeting defense cooperation between the two countries, could be implemented, he noted.

“The US doesn’t want the sanctions to be relieved,” Aqa-Mohammadi said. “This document upsets the sanctions and the Iran-China roadmap disarranges many of the US plans.”

Washington returned the sanctions in 2018 after leaving a landmark nuclear deal with Iran. The US intransigence flew in the face of the fact that the deal had been ratified by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the form of its Resolution 2231.

Now, despite having left the nuclear deal, Washington has recently launched a campaign to renew a UN embargo on the sales of conventional weapons to the Islamic Republic that will expire under the deal in October.

‘Unprecedented defeat’ for US

Aqa-Mohammadi, who is also a member of Iran's Expediency Council, went on to address the implications for the United States’ ambitions in the region, where Washington has been sowing insecurity through decades of military intervention, and trying to tilt the balance of power in favor of the occupying regime of Israel.

“Coordination of Iran and China can take the region out of the US' hands” by pushing Washington aside, breaking its sprawling regional network apart, and frustrating its attempts at isolating Tehran, he stated.

The roadmap, therefore, translates into “such defeat for the US, which will be unprecedented in the region,” he added.

Aqa-Mohammadi cited US reports that Washington has assigned more than 4,000 people to administer the sanctions against Iran, saying Washington which is trying hard to prevent Tehran from drawing benefits from its national interests and bring about a “regime change” in the Islamic Republic has reacted very strongly to the prospect of the roadmap’s conclusion.


On Sunday, The New York Times said it had obtained details of an 18-page proposed agreement that would vastly expand Chinese presence in banking, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other projects. In exchange, China would receive a regular supply of Iranian oil over the next 25 years, it said.

It confirmed that Iran and China were nearing conclusion of the roadmap in defiance of the US, saying the document foresees “a sweeping economic and security partnership.”

The roadmap invites “billions of dollars” of Chinese investments in the Islamic Republic, thus undermining the administration of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to isolate the country through its “maximum pressure” campaign. Especially, the cooperation would prove a “major blow” to the US administration’s “aggressive” policy towards Iran since its withdrawal from the nuclear deal, The Times added.

Addressing the economic side of the roadmap, Aqa-Mohammad said the document would not just cover oil and gas sales, stretching as far as enabling Iran and China to cooperate in “all economic areas.”

According The New York Times, the document also describes deepening military cooperation in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades. It calls for joint training and exercises, joint research and weapons development and intelligence sharing.

The defensive collaboration is aimed at fighting “the lopsided battle with terrorism, drug, and human trafficking and cross-border crimes,” it added.

"The draft agreement with Iran shows that unlike most countries, China feels it is in a position to defy the United States, powerful enough to withstand American penalties, as it has in the trade war waged by President Trump,” The Times said.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020...Leader-advisor-economic-defensive-cooperation
 
Iran, Iraq to increase trade to $20 billion


TEHRAN - Heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi visited Tehran on Tuesday to discuss bilateral ties and hold talks on other pressing issues.

The Iraqi prime minister was welcomed at Mehrabad Airport by Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian. The private talks between al-Kadhimi and President Hassan Rouhani immediately began after the official welcoming ceremony was held on Tuesday noon.
During his two-day visit, al-Kadhimi was going to discuss how to strengthen ties between Iran and Iraq as well as their cooperation in a number of fields, the Iraqi prime minister’s media office said in statement published shortly after al-Kadhimi left Baghdad for Tehran.

Several senior Iraqi officials including Minister of Finance and Prime Minister Assistant for Economic and Energy Affairs Ali Abdul Amir Allawi, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, Petroleum Minister Ehsan Abdul Jabar, Health Minister Hassan Mohammad al-Tamimi, Minister of Planning Khaled Battal, Defense Minister Joma Enad, Electricity Minister Majed Hantoush, National Security Advisor Qassem al-Araji and Head of Trade Bank of Iraq Faisal al-Haimus are accompanying the prime minister on his first visit to a foreign country since taking office.

The prime minister’s visit to Iran came on the heels of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s trip to Iraq on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Iranian government implicitly welcomed Iraq’s reported efforts to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia, saying that Iran supports any initiative to deescalate tensions in the region.

Speaking at a weekly press conference on Tuesday, Ali Rabiei said, “As we had previously announced, we welcome any initiative aiming to resolve the disagreements among the region’s nations. This is a general rule. We support all our neighbors who have some offers for regional cooperation with other countries.”

Prime Minister al-Kadhimi says, “We fought against terrorism and Takfiri groups, and Iran was the first country to stand by Iraq in this fight. We will not forget this.”

Rouhani and al-Kadhimi held a private meeting after the welcoming ceremony. Simultaneously, the Iraqi officials separately discussed issues of mutual interest with their Iranian counterparts. Rouhani and al-Kadhimi attended a joint press conference at the end of their discussions.

Rouhani said that Iran and Iraq are willing to increase bilateral trade to $20 billion up from the current $12 billion.
“The two nations are willing to increase the trade between the two countries to $20 billion. The two countries are also determined to implement all terms of the agreements approved by the two governments in March 2019 in Baghdad,” Rouhani said at the joint press conference.

The president noted that these agreements include economic infrastructure projects such as dredging Arvand Roud border waterway and completing the railway project connecting the Iraqi city of Basra and the Iranian city of Shalamcheh.
Rouhani also added that al-Kadhimi assumed office in “very sensitive circumstances”, however, trade ties between Iran and Iraq have witnessed a “good” improvement over the past few months of al-Kadhimi’s premiership.

Iran’s promise to Iraq

The president also discussed the novel coronavirus with the Iraqi prime minister and pledged to support Iraq in combating the virus.
“Today, we talked about the health condition in the region, including the coronavirus issue. The Islamic Republic of Iran is making this promise to the Iraqi government and nation that it will support the Iraqi nation with all its capabilities in terms of [supplying] health and medical supplies,” Rouhani stated.
He also noted that Iran has enough capabilities to meet Iraq’s needs by providing it with medicine. Rouhani expressed Iran’s readiness to facilitate consultations between health officials of the two countries.

Security cooperation

The president reiterated Iran’s support for Iraq in the fight against terrorism.
“We are ready to work hand in glove with the Iraqi nation to ensure the stability and security of Iraq and the region,” he pointed out.
Rouhani also said that IRGC Quds Force commander Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes were two champions of the fight against terrorism who worked for the stability of Iraq.
The two commanders were martyred in a U.S. terror attack near Baghdad’s international airport on January 3.
Rouhani also said that he discussed with the Iraqi prime minister regional issues and the role that Iraq could play in the region as a powerful Arab country.

PM Kadhimi: Iraq won’t let any threat against Iran from Iraqi soil

For his part, al-Kadhimi told reporters that his visit to Tehran was aimed at strengthening ties between Iran and Iraq.
“The Iraqi people are eager to have cooperative relations with Iran on the basis of the principle of non-interference in internal affairs,” Al-Jazeera news network quoted al-Kadhimi as saying.
The prime minister added, “We fought against terrorism and Takfiri groups, and Iran was the first country to stand by Iraq in this fight. We will not forget this. That’s why Iraq is standing by Iran so that it tackles its economic challenges. Iraq has become a market for Iranian goods.”

Al-Kadhimi also said that his country will not allow any threat against Iran from the Iraqi soil.

SM/PA

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/450313/Iran-Iraq-to-increase-trade-to-20-billion
 
Iran Opens Its First Export Acceleration Center

Iranian Vice-President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari has inaugurated the country's Export Acceleration Centre, which is jointly supported by the Vice-Presidency and the Iran Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the opening ceremony held in Tehran on Sunday, Sattari said he is hopeful that the opening of the centre would facilitate the trend of exporting the country’s services and high-tech products.

“The entire capacity of the Vice-Presidency’s export corridor has been allocated to knowledge-based companies and export-based start-ups, and the Vice-Presidency is prepared to provide any kind of support for these high-tech exporters,” he noted.

Sattari visited in person various parts of the Export Acceleration Centre, which accommodates various teams and start-ups including a platform to facilitate diagnostic and medical services, an online exhibition of medical and pharmaceutical equipment, and a start-up company offering services in the field of online international research.

The vice-president also rewarded the winners of an event called “Jump in Export in the Path to Jump in Production”. The winners included a platform for online exchange of foreign currencies, another platform for offering technical-engineering services, and a portal for export of specialized educational courses.

Sattari told reporters that the coronavirus has had certain benefits in addition to the harms it inflicted on the Iranian economy.

“Despite all the serious harms the coronavirus crisis inflicted, it has considerably helped ICT companies to thrive. Those active in the field of online education and e-sale have improved [their businesses] very much,” Sattari noted.

“The coronavirus broke the traditional resistance and the old barriers that hindered these businesses, and they managed to release their optimum products in the society, which resulted in multiplication of their profit,” he noted.

Addressing the same ceremony, Gholam-Hossein Shafei, the chairman of Iran Chamber of Commerce, told reporters that traditional businesses undoubtedly cannot maintain their export markets based on traditional and old solutions.

“The opening of this centre is an auspicious beginning for devising modern and up-to-date solutions for export in the new era,” he added.

“Traditionalism is much more than innovation in our country’s exports, and this is a big gap in today’s world. However, we can move forward in the path of developing our exports by using knowledge-based companies,” Shafei said.

 
New Mine to Boost Iran's Copper Output to 1.3 Million Tons p.a.

https://financialtribune.com/articles/domestic-economy/104974/new-mine-to-boost-irans-copper-output-to-13-million-tons-pa


A giant copper mine in Kerman Province is expected to boost Iran’s annual copper concentrate output by 130,000 tons once it becomes operational in the next Iranian year (March 2021-22), according to managing director of the National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICICO).

“The construction operations of Der Alo Copper Mine are nearly complete and a big share of the equipment has been installed,” Ardeshir Sa’d-Mohammadi was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

He noted that over 8.8 trillion rials ($38 million) plus €63 million have so far been injected into the project.

“The mine, with a capacity of extracting 7 million tons of copper sulfide per annum, is projected to begin operation in the first half of the next [fiscal] year [March 21-Sept. 22],” he added.
 
Pak-Iran urged to set up banking channels
LCCI official says presence of Iranian financial institution in Pakistan can boost trade volume


Iran, Belarus vow to deepen economic, political ties


The Islamic Republic of Iran and Belarus pledged to bolster mutual cooperation in economic and political areas, Trend reports citing IRNA.

During a meeting in Minsk while receiving a copy of credentials of Iran's Ambassador to Belarus Saeed Yari, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko termed Iran as a significant partner in the fields of politics and economy in the Middle East.

Both sides examined the ways to enhance the bilateral relations during the meeting.


 
Indigenized HDS Catalysts Used for 1st Time at Sabalan Petrochem Plant
Due to the US sanctions, the company could not import HDS catalyst that is exclusively made by the Danish chemical company Haldor Topsoe

Sabalan Petrochemical Company in Asalouyeh, southern Bushehr Province, has started using domestically-made hydrodesulphurization (HDS) catalysts for the first time in the country to support domestic manufactures, the managing director said.

“Due to the US sanctions, the company could not import this type of catalyst that is exclusively made by the Danish chemical company Haldor Topsoe,” Mohammad Zali was quoted as saying by the National Petrochemical Company news website Nipna.

The US announced fresh economic sanctions on Iran in August 2018 targeting key industrial sectors. In the May of that year the beleaguered president, Donald Trump, tore up the landmark 2015 nuclear deal Iran had signed with the six world powers and in November imposed a second round of sanctions against the key energy sector.

“It was possible for us to source similar catalysts from other foreign companies but we preferred to support domestic production. We asked three local companies to produce this catalyst,” Zali noted.
 
Iran Parliament Speaker Urges Budget Reform

Iran Parliament Speaker Urges Budget Reform
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Parliament Speaker described petrodollars as an unreliable source of income, calling for a budget reform plan with new sources of revenues.
In comments at a Monday meeting of a parliamentary council, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the income from the sale of crude and oil products is not a reliable source in the national budget at all.
Stressing the need for a budget reform with new sources of revenue, he said what matters to the Parliament is that the national budget bill should be ratified without any deficit.
There should be a balance between the incomes and spending, the speaker added.
Qalibaf also referred to tax revenues as a suitable option for creating new income resources and making up for a cut in the share of petrodollars.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has repeatedly called for formulation of plans to cut dependence on oil revenues and govern the country on the basis of domestic capabilities instead of natural resources.

 
Iran Parliament Speaker Urges Budget Reform

Iran Parliament Speaker Urges Budget Reform
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Parliament Speaker described petrodollars as an unreliable source of income, calling for a budget reform plan with new sources of revenues.
In comments at a Monday meeting of a parliamentary council, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the income from the sale of crude and oil products is not a reliable source in the national budget at all.
Stressing the need for a budget reform with new sources of revenue, he said what matters to the Parliament is that the national budget bill should be ratified without any deficit.
There should be a balance between the incomes and spending, the speaker added.
Qalibaf also referred to tax revenues as a suitable option for creating new income resources and making up for a cut in the share of petrodollars.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has repeatedly called for formulation of plans to cut dependence on oil revenues and govern the country on the basis of domestic capabilities instead of natural resources.

I hope to see ghalibaf as the next president of iran.....he is the man who delivers and walks the walk.....iran has guys like him but they voted for useless Rohanni...well as they say "live and learn".
 
I hope to see ghalibaf as the next president of iran.....he is the man who delivers and walks the walk.....iran has guys like him but they voted for useless Rohanni...well as they say "live and learn".
well before that go and see the reforms in his previous post
 
One of the most positive and encouraging developments on the economic front since the massive uptick in illegal US sanctions on Iran: the IRGC joined a task force assigned with curbing consumer prices.

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2020/11/07 17:42:41
Basij to Help Curb Consumer Prices

Basij to Help Curb Consumer Prices

EghtesadOnline: The “Rabi 17 Headquarters” has been formed following the order of the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to control prices and fight price gouging with the help of Basij volunteer forces and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

According to the head of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Hossein Salami, the taskforce also includes Agriculture Minister Kazem Khavazi, Industries Minister Alireza Razm-Hosseini and Justice Minister Alireza Avaei, as well as Prosecutor-General of Iran Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, and related oversight and security bodies.

“IRGC has high potential to help the two ministries of agriculture and industries control prices across the country by monitoring supply, production and distribution chains of essential goods. The headquarters is tasked with holding monthly sessions and the constant supervision of the market and timely control of prices,” he was quoted as saying by IRIB News.

The average goods and services Consumer Price Index in the 12-month period ending Oct. 21, which marks the end of the seventh Iranian month, increased by 27.2% compared with the corresponding period of last year, latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show.

SCI had put the average annual inflation rate for the preceding Iranian month that ended on Sept. 21 at 26%.

The consumer inflation for the month under review (Sept. 22-Oct. 21) registered an increase of 41.4% compared with the similar month of the previous Iranian year. The year-on-year inflation of the month ending Sept. 21 was 34.4%.

The overall CPI (using the Iranian year to March 2017 as the base year) stood at 261.5 in Mehr, indicating a 7% rise compared with the previous month. Month-on-month consumer inflation was 3.6% for the preceding month (Aug. 22-Sept. 21.)

SCI put average annual inflation for urban and rural areas during the month under review at 27.3% and 26.7%, respectively.

CPI registered a year-on-year increase of 41.3% for urban areas and 42.2% for rural areas in the month ending Oct. 21.

The overall CPI reached 260.3 for urban households and 268.2 for rural households, indicating a month-on-month increase of 7.1% and 6.9% for urban and rural areas, respectively.

 
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