TEHRAN, Iran, June 9
Trend:
Iran's meat production in Gilan Province has exceeded import from Russia, said member of Iran and Russia Chamber of Commerce.
"Gilan Province has produced 27,000 tons of meat in the last Iranian year (started March 21, 2019) while the country has imported 20,000 tons of meat valued $53 million from Russia," said Jalil Jalalifar, Trend reports citing ILNA.
"The production would have been increased three times more, if the officials offered subsides to livestock farmers instead of official foreign currency to importers," Jalalifar said. "Iran has spent $53 million to import meat from Russia in last Iranian year, but the volume of import has not been significant."
"Some problems will be solved if the official foreign currency rate of 42,000 rial will be eliminated and there will be single rate in the market," he said.
The official added that there are problems in exporting vegetable due to the foreign currency rate.
If the price for exporting onion is 10,000 rial (about $2.3) per kilo, there is no impetus for farmers to export the products; the same issue is with export of potato and tomato, Jalalifar said.
"Furthermore, Iran's neighbor countries face budget deficit, as they can not export oil due to oil price crash and thus, they reduce import," he noted.
"If the situation continues, we will face challenges in the agriculture sector, so the government should reduce import and prepare for a post-coronavirus economy," he said.