Tehran, Iran, January 19
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Iran's government is planning to take giant steps toward the privatization of much of the economy during the current administration, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said addressing a conference of business owners from across the country.
The government's main agenda in the post-sanctions era is economic growth, "which will not come by as long as the economy is in the grip of the government," he said as cast live on IRINN TV channel January 19.
Appropriate measures to realize that goal have been envisioned within the next year's national budget plan, the president noted.
On January 16, nuclear-related sanctions on Iran were lifted according to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the group 5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany). The 12-year-old sanctions had stifled the country's economy.
Rouhani said the government has on agenda not only to settle a great part of its debts to banks and the private sector, but also to hand over past years' unfinished projects to them.
"In the past decade, despite having the record for the highest income, the net employment has been zero. To have employment, an economic growth of eight percent is needed. But that is impossible to achieve with domestic resources," he said.
"If all domestic resources come to the scene, then we will need a minimum of $50 billion worth of foreign investment a year to achieve that target growth rate."
"Our non-oil export needs, and is going to see a 15-percent rise every year."
"Iran is like a young man who has been behind bars for 12 years. Now that the sanctions are removed, this young man is free and is going to heal and compete with his rivals," Rouhani said. "Iran can join the league of newly-formed growing economies of the world soon."