IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Governor of Central Bank of Iran (CBI) called bartering one of the classic methods for countering U.S. unilateral sanctions.

: In a joint meeting with Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, Minister of Oil and Minister of Agriculture Jihad, Abdul Nasser Hemmati said: “In the current situation that the U.S. has considered a variety of decisions to prevent Iran from monetary and banking exchanges, bartering oil for commodities can counter Washington’s sanctions.”

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran added that bartering is one of the ways to develop countries’ foreign trade.

Hemmati went on to say: “Considering the history of bartering in Iran, the existing program will be implemented in a wider dimension and in two stages, the first stage of which will include the supply of basic commodities, and the second stage will include essential goods and raw materials needed by production units.”

Earlier on Wednesday, he also called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to grant Iran the emergency loans it needs to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The CBI governor made the remarks while addressing the governors of the central banks of the member-states of the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) via video conference.

“It is expected from the IMF to quickly and without any discrimination and without being influenced by political lobbying or pressures from other countries, including the U.S.,” Hemmati said while referring to Iran’s request for receiving emergency loans from the IMF.

He emphasized that the COVID-19 disease has harmed many countries and Iran has suffered more than many countries, and said, “Despite the severe sanctions of the US and the difficult situation that the country is facing, Iran has managed to contain this issue and make progress with its economic policies.”

Hemmati said the present situation has made many world countries face budget and liquidity problems and Iran is not an exception.

“Iran managed to take suitable measures by relying on its legal sources, but the problem is that the illegal U.S. sanctions have deprived Iran of gaining access to its resources in the absence of any acceptable logic,” he added.

Hemmati had earlier said that Iran had requested a $5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund in the corona campaign package of Rapid Financial Instrument.

In the meantime, an IMF spokesman told IRNA on the condition of anonymity that “We have had discussions with the Iranian authorities to better understand their request for emergency financing from the Fund.”

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – In its latest report, International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wedesday announced that Iran’s economy will grow by 3.2 percent in 2021.

The latest report of the International Monetary Fund on the state of world economy and its future outlook, which was recently published, estimates that Iran’s economic growth in 2021 will hit 3.2 percent. This estimate shows that Iran’s economy has improved 0.1 percent as compared to the Fund’s previous estimate of Iran’s economic growth outlook for next year.

According to IMF, next year’s inflation rate in Iran will reach 30%, which shows a 3% decrease as compared to the Fund’s previous estimate for next year.

IMF also pointed to the unemployment rate in Iran and added, the unemployment rate in Iran, which is predicted at 12.2 percent for this year, has been estimated at 12.4 percent in the next year.

The international body estimates that the world economy will end the current year with a negative growth of 4.4 percent, which is an improvement of about 0.8 percent as compared to its previous report and estimate.

This improvement is due to increased hopes for the recovery of developed economies after the coronavirus global pandemic as well as alleviation of restrictions due to the implementation of health protocols such as social distancing and closure of businesses.

In its another report, the International Monetary Fund estimates that world economic growth will reach 5.2 percent in 2021, indicating a recovery in the global economy after the coronavirus pandemic.

This year, the economies of European countries will also experience negative growth; France and the United Kingdom will face negative growth of 9.8 percent, Italy will experience a negative 10.6 percent growth while Spain’s economy will shrink 12.8 percent.

India will record negative growth of 10.3 percent this year, according to the report.

Among the world’s economies, only China will grow positively this year, with economic growth estimated at 1.9 percent.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani has condemned U.S. sanctions which have obstructed Iran’s access to medicines amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying the White House knows nothing about humanity.

Speaking during a meeting of the national task force for fighting the coronavirus on Saturday, Rouhani slammed Washington for blocking a request by the Iranian government for a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to combat the deadly outbreak.

“We requested a $5 billion loan from the IMF and all members agreed, but America does not allow us to get the loan for medicines and treatment,” he said. “They have distanced from humanity as far as this. The White House today has no sense of humanity. If it had a sense of humanity, it wouldn’t have done this,” he said.

The Iranian president also lashed out at what he called “friendly countries” that have frozen Iran’s money in their banks.

“We have countries that are also our friends and our money is in their bank, [but] they have locked it three times and are not willing to release our money for our needs. They say that the Americans have pressured” them against unfreezing Iran’s money and that they had retreated in the face of the US oppression, Rouhani said.

Such a crime is unprecedented in history, with a country not being able to draw off its money deposited in a bank in a bid to cover its people’s health needs, he underlined.

The Americans, he added, are angry about how the Iranian government is managing the country, so they are mounting their pressure despite the country’s fight against the highly contagious virus.

Iran has been contending with the deadliest pandemic the world has seen in many decades amid US sanctions, which have seriously hampered efforts to contain the outbreak.

More than 397,801 Iranians have been infected with COVID-19 in Iran. More than 22,913 have died, while 342,539 have recovered.

President Rouhani went on to say that a top priority for the government is to provide medicines for people amid the tough economic situation caused by sanctions.

“At a time when enemies have even banned [companies from sending] medications needed by the people as part of their unfair and illegal sanctions, a high priority for the country is to meet needs for medicines,” he said.

He made the remarks during a conversation with Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnasser Hemmati, who presented a report on the trend of procurement of raw materials for pharmaceutical companies.

Hemmati said some $900 million have been allocated to the import of medicines and medical equipment over the past six months.

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During those days that the Coronavirus pandemic had spread wave of fear and concerns worldwide, there was such a recession dominating the oil market that surprised the world. This recession was so that the U.S. was ready to pay $35 per barrel to those who were ready to buy its oil in order to save extractions from its oil wells. Now after two months of fight with main rival of economy, the Coronavirus, while some group supporting the fight with the virus and some group defending reopening of economy through observing social distancing, the oil price is getting upward trend.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

Oil price despite uncertainties from the virus is growing but it has also experienced swings resulted from the condition in the market. Early this week, the crude benchmark Brent , with seven percent growth, inched towards $43 per barrel and the price of the U.S. West Texas intermediate crude reached $40 per barrel. This change in the nature of the market’s approach has important reasons that some reason can be like strengthening of the demand which had suffered serious damage after the outbreak of COVID-19.

Most experts believe that devastating effects of COVID-19 on the U.S. economy are going downward. The murder of George Floyd and following protests  have still overshadowed the U.S. community, and employment market in the U.S. is changing. The U.S. unemployment rate while was 14.7 percent in April improved in May and reached 13.3 percent. This is while the number of total unemployed population in the U.S. is estimated at 40m people. On the other hand, statistics show that demand for oil, which had faced heavy decline this year and especially it was 21m barrels lower in April comparing to the preceding year, is gradually improving. Consumption of oil products is on the rise. The demand for gasoline in some countries like China, the U.S. and Europe is increasing. The fuel jet price is soaring with slower pace because of restrictions imposed on passenger plane flights in countries. These data are reported while measurement of greenhouse gases shows that the amount of carbon dioxide emission in Earth’s atmosphere has increased comparing to the preceding year. The CO2 levels reached a record high in May which were an average of just over 417 parts per million, or ppm, which grew by 2.5 ppm.

This rise in CO2 levels is very significant and considerable when most of industrial activities and transportations in the world had almost being halted due to the Coronavirus crisis. Experts in the environmental issues believe that CO2 has a capability which can keep its emission in the atmosphere for hundreds of years; so by 17 percent drop in consumption of fossil fuels in April, one cannot expect reduction in the greenhouse gases.

Regarding the improvement in data related to oil sales and comparative balance in prices, condition of Iran’s oil production and exports are still unknown. Some data from think-tanks and secretariats of energy institutes estimate that Iran has continued exporting between 80,000 to 800,000 barrels of oil per day.  Before the U.S. pullout from the JCPOA, Iran used to export 2.5 bpd of crude oil. Customers of Iran’s oil are currently China, India, Turkey and some unknown purchasers in the spot market.

On sales to China, the latest report from China’s General Administration of Customs shows that the country imported 350,000 bpd of Iran’s oil in March. What one can definitely say today and in the economic chaos in the world is that the connection of global markets to each other will have overlapping effect, either positive or negative, in the markets, and in the upcoming months it will be totally unpredictable.Can the U.S. be able to improve the economy and push the production towards a comparative stability through its suppressing method during the protests on the racism? Will effects of lockdown in important sectors of Europe’s economy can be rebuilt? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in response to these questions predicts a negative economic growth for the world between 2.5 to 7 percent and this is the indicator for a gloomy outlook, even if today the oil market moves towards the temporary target of interaction.

 By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

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The media disputes among state governors of the U.S. in facing with the management of the U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House in his ways of dealing with the Coronavirus crisis in New York and Washington are totally different.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

In the past five decades, the U.S. economy has been deeply rooted in New York and today, that very economy has inflicted the most damages on the West’s economy after the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Just some two weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its report forcasted that the U.S. economy would shrink by 6% in 2020. In other words, the U.S. inevitably would withdraw the dominance of its national currency dollar in the world. In the IMF report, it has also been noted that European Union economy would also shrink by 7.5 percent and actually the West, in a deep and serious challenge with the Coronavirus, will be in economic decline, and New York is the capital of this challenge and decline.

The IMF report also forecasted that China’s economic growth will be one percent in 2020. It means the gap between economic growths of China and both Europe and the U.S. will be some 8 percent in just one year. It actually means that the hub of bourses and banking sector of the Wall Street have turned into the capital city of the Coronavirus in the world and this stunning pandemic can push all the West into an economic abyss.

This concern has also forced French President Emmanuel Macron to outspokenly say that in upcoming months it would be determined whether EU as a big economic and political project would collapse or it would challenge with the crisis to overcome it.

The concern about the collapse in New York is several times more than Europe but it has not become media headlines. Of course this concern can be seen apparently in the faces of American people and the U.S. media anchors.

Last week acclaimed American actor Robert De Niro in one of the most popular programs, The Late Show, launched a scathing attack on the performance of Trump’s Administration and mostly the White House regarding the management of the Coronavirus crisis. In his video interview and during his chat with the program’s anchor Stephen Colbert, he shared his COVID-19 experience and what he did in the lockdown phase and his dissatisfaction with the government’s services regarding the virus. De Niro reports that he doesn’t watch a whole lot of movies anymore, but he’s glued to the news. And these days, who isn’t? It feels like it’s been up-to-the-minute news updates for four non-stop years – and even more so now. He added it’s a lot of reading scripts, a bit of working out and “trying to stay alive.” The Irishman’ actor also explained that he has been lifting weights “to keep bone mass strong” and doing a lot of cardio and other routine exercises such as using a treadmill to be ready for his next  which will be a Coronavirus-themed movie where he is to play the role current New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

In his interview he strongly defended the performance of Cuomo and slammed Trump Administration’s in dealing with the Coronavirus crisis. On Cuomo’s performance, De Niro said, “Cuomo… he’s doing what a president should do.” Calling the pandemic “a national tragedy,” the actor expressed his disappointment in the current administration’s attempts to control the coronavirus outbreak.

De Niro who has acted in acclaimed movies like Raging Bull and Taxi Driver is popular among the American people as the cultural statue. On the central government, he labelled the U.S. President “an idiot” who largely ignored many of the warning signs. It’s all about him getting re-elected. I have no words for it anymore. I’m nonplussed. Dumbfounded …,” he added.

These remarks are like what French President Macron have made implicitly and they reveal the decayed root of American economy in facing of  New York as the center of country’s economy and Washington as the center of political management of the country.

Today Coronavirus pandemic in the world has turned into dominance of economic misery influence in different levels and with what I elaborated, New York City is considered as the capital of this crisis.

 By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

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It has been nearly two months since Iran requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial support through the fund’s Rapid Financing Initiative (RFI), but so far neither help nor a clear answer has been received.

In early March, IMF announced the allocation of $50 billion funding, under the emergency RFI program, for helping countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic; and Iran, as one of the major countries affected by the disease, immediately applied for a $5-billion loan.

As the processing of Iran’s loan application has been prolonged over the normal required time and rumor has it that the IMF has rejected Iran’s application, a senior official at the fund announced that the IMF is actively consulting with member states and all requests must be investigated based on standard IMF policies.

However, claiming that Iran has adequate financial resources to deal with the virus, the US administration has opposed Iran’s request and many believe that the US opposition is the main reason for IMF’s stalling.

In this regard, Tehran Times conducted an interview with Ferial Mostofi, a senior member of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA), who is also the head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA)’s Investment Committee.

Does Iran really need the fund?

The US believes that Iran has enough resources to contain the virus and even if it didn’t, the sanctions have not blocked the country’s access to healthcare and medical products.

So we asked Mostofi, as a businesswoman and as a representative of the country’s private sector, does Iran really need this loan?

Well, even before the outbreak of coronavirus and its economic consequences, Iran was already facing economic pressure. It was expected that the country would face budget deficit due to the US sanctions and the significant reduction of oil exports; and now, with the pandemic being added to the equation, the country’s economic situation is much more problematic and saying that Iran does not need the fund as much as others are absurd, she said.

What the funding should be spent on?

“First and foremost, Iran needs this money to battle the virus and save people’s lives, human lives matter, if the government had enough resources [as they claim] to support people financially to keep them in lockdown, then the virus could have been contained much sooner and much easier,” she said.

Here it should be noted that although Trump administration officials continue to insist that food and medicine are exempt from US sanctions, evidence suggests that unilateral sanctions are collectively targeting the public since limitations on trade and the unwillingness of financial institutions to process transactions related to Iran have resulted in staggering prices and shortages of medicine inside the country.

“This money can also be injected into the country’s production sector and encourage both demand and supply sides of the market and consequently result in economic growth.”

The government also needs to support the low-income classes and people who have lost their jobs, battling coronavirus is not just about containing the virus, the government should be able to support people as well, so it needs financial support more than any other nations in the region, Mostofi emphasized.

The International Monetary Fund needs to put politics aside and process Iran’s requests for financial aid just like other nations.

With the recent developments, the IMF seems to be looking for a way to reassure the US about the purposes and directions of the loan to Iran, however, the United States still opposes the allocation of any loans to the Islamic Republic.

Despite the US illegal pressures and Iran’s insistence on its legitimate rights, we must wait to see if the IMF will eventually give in to the Washington pressures or will be able to maintain its independence as an international body.

Interview by Ebrahim Fallahi

First Published in Tehran Times

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According To Iran News, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said the US’ attempt to block Tehran’s request for an emergency International Monetary Fund loan for the battle with the coronavirus breaches a peremptory norm of international law on right to health.

In a post on his Twitter account on Saturday, Shamkhani said Washington’s opposition to Iran’s request for the IMF loan is in breach of the peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens) on right to health.

“Third governments have two commitments; to halt cooperation with the violating state and to act for lifting the illegal situation,” he added.

Shamkhani also deplored Europe for its usual “expression of regret” about such a violation of law by the US.

Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund for a $5 billion loan to deal with the outbreak of COVID-19.

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati says the IMF’s response will be a litmus test for claims about relief aid for containing the disease.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – An outspoken economist and Al-Zahra University teacher believes compulsory sales of medicines and food to Iran by other countries is a disaster and Iran’s request for getting loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a mistake.

Speaking to ILNA, Hossein Raghfar said that while near $20b of national forex has flown out of the country in a big corruption current and nobody is ready to answer it, today the government stretches its hands to get loans from the IMF and international bodies.

He said getting foreign loans especially conditional ones will create problems for the country, adding that any conditional loan at this stage will create serious and massive problems for the country. He further said that since the imposed Iraqi war, these problems have always existed in the national economy, have grown and created serious restrictions for policy-makers.

Raghfar added that getting loan at this stage is a disaster, noting that in a big corruption current some $20b has been taken out of the country and nobody is ready to answer it while today the country has stretched its hands for getting $5b loan from international bodies.

He said the loan will create problems and obligations for the next governments, and without any doubt, IMF or international bodies will set conditions for paying loans to Iran and the money should be spent in activities which are not sanctioned. He further said the loan will be actually allocated for import of food and medicines and it will help mafias in this sector and will not meet the national interests.

Raghfar said there are some doubts over issuing license for granting loans and if they are granted, it would be conditional. He noted the loan actually would serve the industries of the donating countries in order to save their food and medicine sectors in their current economic condition and it will be a disaster for Iran.

He also questioned the government’s supportive package for the Coronavirus affected sectors, reiterating that comparing government’s supportive package with other countries like the U.S. and Canada is also a mistake.

Raghfar said that supportive packages in other countries like the U.S. and Canada are not as it is said and it is not true because people in other countries have faced some restrictions in getting such packages.

He said unfortunately some people exaggerate about the U.S. and Canada’s supportive packages and it is not true and it is just media hype to reduce psychological pressure from the country.

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Speaking at a cabinet session on Wednesday, Rouhani warned the IMF against discriminatory behavior towards its members.

“Iran is paying the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank our share, and part of our reserves are at their disposal, and it is not and will not be acceptable to us if they discriminate against us when considering our application for the loan. It will not be acceptable to the world public opinion either,” he underlined.

Many countries and intellectuals in the world have made it clear that the IMF must fulfill its duty, the president said. “We have not asked the (International Monetary) Fund anything over the past 50 years. Now after such a long time of our membership in the Fund that we have tried to keep our money in reserve there, if they do not fulfill their duty under such tough conditions, the world will judge them differently.”

Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund for a $5 billion loan to deal with the outbreak of COVID-19.

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati says the IMF’s response will be a litmus test for claims about relief aid for containing the disease.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – The Central Bank of Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $5 billion emergency funding to fight a coronavirus pandemic as the number of infections keeps growing in the country.

In an Instagram post on Thursday, Abdulnaser Hemmati, governor of the Central Bank, said he had written to the IMF’s head, Kristalina Georgieva, last week to stress Iran’s “right to benefit from the fund’s $50-billion Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).”

In the letter, the official highlighted the “widespread prevalence” of the virus — called COVID-19 — inside Iran and the need for the country to take measures to prevent further spread, treat the patients and counteract the economic aftermath of the disease.

“Given the size of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s quota in the fund, it calls for the use of the RFI fast financing facility of around $5 billion,” he added.

In a tweet on Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also called on the IMF to extend support to Iran, who is a member state of the Washington-based lender.

Zarif said the IMF managing director “has stated that countries affected by #COVID19 will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument. Our Central Bank requested access to this facility immediately.”

IMF’s @KGeorgieva has stated that countries affected by #COVID19 will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument. Our Central Bank requested access to this facility immediately.

The “IMF/IMF Board should adhere to fund’s mandate, stand on right side of history and act responsibly,” he said.

The outbreak — declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization — first emerged in China and is now spreading fast in other parts of the world.

In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Zarif repeated Iran’s demand for U.S. sanctions to be lifted, Iranian media reported.

U.S. officials have said that the sanctions do not target medicine for Iran and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on February 29 that the U.S. had offered to help Tehran face the outbreak. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman reportedly said that any U.S. offer to help Iran in its fight against the coronavirus was “ridiculous”.

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