TEHRAN: A recent study shows that Iran will be among 32 most powerful economies in the world by 2050. The study that was carried out by professional services giant PwC said Iran would be the 17th most powerful economy in the world within the next three decades. It added that the country would outperform the incumbent European players like Italy, Spain and the Netherlands whose ranks would be 21st, 26th and 32nd, respectively. The Islamic Republic would also lead several Asian players like South Korea (18) as well as the Philippines (19) and other Malaysia (24).
Iran would closely track Pakistan (16) as well as regional rivals Saudi Arabia (13) and Turkey (11). At the top of the list of the best performing economies by 2050 would be China which will be followed by India and the United States, as reported by The Independent. The biggest surprises may be Indonesia (4), Brazil (5), Russia (6) and Mexico (7) which will be ahead of the Asian giant Japan (8) and the current European powerhouse Germany (9). In December 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it expected Iran’s economic growth to reach as high as 6.6 percent for the Persian calendar year that ends on 20 March 2017.
It emphasized that the higher production and exports of oil after the removal of sanctions and exports would be particularly instrumental in boosting Iran’s economic growth that was in recession last year. A country with a population of around 80 million, Iran is currently one of the biggest economies of the Middle East and has a gross domestic production (GDP) of around $380 billion. The main driving force of Iran’s economic growth is exports of oil. The country is currently exporting close to 2.3 million barrels per day (mb/d) of oil and analysts are already expecting the volume to increase to as high as 2.5 mb/d. Based on the budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year, the country expects to sell its oil at around $50 dollars per barrel thus expecting its annual oil revenues to be around $33 billion. Officials in Tehran have already emphasized that serious plans have been devised to increase the country’s oil production to as high as 5 mb/d over the next few years – what is expected to eventually generate higher oil revenues and accordingly boost growth.
