TEHRAN: President Hassan Rouhani has expressed hope that the country will register a five percent economic growth over the current Iranian calendar year (starting March 20). “I hope that by the end of the current (Iranian) year we will reach 5% of economic growth as promised before,” Rouhani said during a live interview on state TV August 2.
Elaborating on the country’s economic situation, President Rouhani showed graphs explaining that Iran’s non-oil export increased over the first four months of the current Iranian year. The President explained that in the meantime the volume of Iran’s imports decreased. According to the graphs provided by the president, Iran exported $13.4 billion worth of goods while the country imported $12.9 billion worth of products in the aforementioned period.
President Rouhani further touched upon a nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the world major powers last July and said that the implementation of the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA) has paved the way for increasing Iran’s exports of oil and condensate. However, the president criticized the westerners for failing to fulfil their commitments regarding their commitments. He said that the P5+1 has had some shortcomings in honoring its side of the JCPOA.
According to the president, Iran has increased its output of oil and condensate from 3.25 million barrels per day to 4.124 million barrels per day. Speaking about the impacts of the implementation of the JCPOA on Iran’s economy, president said that the country has exported 2.382 million barrels of oil and condensate per day over the first four months of the current year.
Rouhani added that the JCPOA has also enabled Iran to establish ties with about 400 banks across the world. The country has also attracted more than $3 billion in investment following the implementation of the JCPOA in January, he noted. The president went on to comment on a recent scandal in Iran on the astronomic salaries paid to a group of senior managers in saying that the country needs to combat corruption. He called for unity among Iranians to tackle corruption and said this is not a partisan issue.
