TEHRAN (Iran News) –Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs says that Iran has planned for both scenarios, whether sanctions are lifted or not during the JCPOA revival talks
Speaking in a press conference on the occasion of the Government Week, Ehsan Khandozi said; “We have almost witnessed the situation that the U.S. has used all of its economic pressure tools against Iran to create fear among people which is not proportional to the facts in the sanctions situation.”
He further stressed: Iran has plans for both scenarios of removal or remaining of sanctions.”
The minister went on to say that the popular administration will contain inflation challenges by having a non-inflation economic roadmap.
He added that the policies pursued by the current administration were going forward based on efficiency and transparency.
One of the implications of the policies was the stabilization of the country’s economy at the macro level, Khandouzi said. According to him, the administration controlled liquidity and reduced it from 45.5 percent to 37.5 percent. In another promising note, the economy minister said the government has succeeded in reducing the runaway liquidity from an annual growth of 40.5 percent to 35 percent, an Achilles heel of the Iranian economy.
He then added that importing cars with low fuel consumption is the government’s priority to decrease the volume of environmental pollutants.
Khandozi pointed out that based on the law, the government will register car imports with a price of fewer than 20,000 euros with a total value of 1 billion euros, and priority is given to imports with cars under 10,000 euros.
He expressed hope that at the end of 2022, he will be able to present a report of statistics indicating the increase in the quality and quantity of services in the automobile industry.
The Minister of Economy noted that significant reforms are underway to improve Iran’s car industry.
Under the new law, approved in the cabinet on August 17, Iranian importers will be able to import cars worth a maximum of 20,000 euros, with a focus on cars worth fewer than 10,000 euros, to have fewer pollution impacts.
He also reiterated that the Islamic Republic’s oil income has increased five-fold compared to last year and eleven-fold compared to the year before despite unrelenting US-led sanctions, raising hopes that many of the economic hardships in the country will soon be tackled.
Khandouzi, who is also the Iranian government’s economic spokesman, said the country witnessed a 22-billion-dollar leap in its exports this year.
He said the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi took over in a turbulent economic situation in August 2021, when the country had been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and the economy had been tied to the fate of the nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers.
He added controlling the fundamental factors of inflation, promoting economic justice, and transparency in the government’s performance have been among the priorities of the current administration.
He went on to say that the government does not intend to increase the price of gasoline, stressing that the government seeks other means to encourage people to reduce gasoline consumption rather than resorting to hike of prices.
