BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Iran's unofficial trade has grown under US sanctions against Iran, said former head of the Azerbaijan-Iran Chamber of Commerce, expert on economic issues Hossein Vossoughi-Irani told Trend.
According to Vossoughi-Irani, there have been no significant changes in Iran's foreign exchange market in recent months. This has resulted in an increase in Iran's informal trade.
Vossoughi-Irani added that US sanctions have limited Iran's official trade.
Commenting on Iran's economic situation, expert said that as a result of sanctions, of course, according to a number of international and local statistics, Iran's economy has shrunk slightly.
“The main purpose of the sanctions against Iran was to reduce Iran's economy. Despite some problems, Iranian economy has not been hit hard,” he said.
Iran has exported more than 125 million tons of goods worth $38.5 billion over 11 months (from March 21, 2019 through February 19, 2020). China, Iraq, Turkey, the UAE and Afghanistan are in the top five in Iran's exports. Iran imported 32.4 million tons of products worth $39.9 billion. The products are mainly imported from China, the UAE, Turkey, India and Germany.
In November 2018, the US imposed new sanctions on Iran. Over the past period, the sanctions included Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies and individuals.