TEHRAN: The Central Bank of Iran has published growth figures for the third quarter of the last Iranian year (September 22-December 20, 2016). According to CBI, the Iranian economy grew 15.7% last fall compared with the corresponding quarter of a year before. The rate stood at 4.6% without taking oil production into account. The oil sector registered a whopping growth rate of 74.6% in Q3, thanks to the lifting of nuclear sanctions against Iran, which allowed the country to significantly ramp up production to pre-sanctions levels.
Sanctions were lifted on January 2016, when Tehran and world powers started to implement a deal they clinched in 2015 to resolve disputes over Iran’s nuclear program. The mining and industries sector posted 11.3% growth. Services and agriculture recorded 5.6% and 5% expansion respectively. The construction sector, which shrank 25.4% amid a slump in the domestic housing sector, has been struggling with for years now. Official statistics on the growth rate for the fiscal 2016-17 have yet to be published by relevant bodies, though Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia has estimated a growth of 8%.
