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Iran needs 12% economic growth to reach economic goals

Business Materials 6 January 2015 11:18 (UTC +04:00)

Tehran, Iran, Jan. 6

By Milad Fashtami - Trend:

Iran needs economic growth of 12 percent in the coming years to materialize the goals set in the country's 20-year economic perspective, Iran's First Vice President, Eshaq Jahangiri said.

Jahangiri said that the average economic growth set in the 20-year economic perspective is 8 percent per year, Iran's Fars News Agency reported on Jan. 6.

"The economic growth of the country from the beginning of the plan has not surpassed 2.4 percent, so we need an average economic growth of 12 percent in the remaining years to compensate for the slow growth of previous years," he explained.

"Even if the sanctions are removed, the maximum economic growth of Iran in the next 6-7 years will be 3 percent, which is not enough," the official said.

Such a slow economic growth will weaken Iran's position in the region, which may be harmful to the country's national security," Jahangiri added.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Dec. 24 that the country's economic growth was 4 percent in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 - September 22, 2014).

Rouhani previously said that the government's goal is to increase the country's economic growth up to 6 percent by the end of current year (March 20, 2015).

It is while according to the International Monetary Fund, Iran's economic growth rate will hit 1.5 percent in the current year.

Masood Ahmed, the director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department, said in August that the country's economic growth rate will increase to 1.5 percent after two years of contraction. In April, the IMF said Iran's economy had contracted by 1.7 percent in 2013. However, the economy should come out of recession in 2014.

Business Monitor said in its April report that the Iranian economy will return to growth in 2014, as the improvement in relations with the West and better macroeconomic management will lead to an improved outlook for exports and increased business and consumer confidence.

Recent improvements in relations with the West bode well for the country's economy, which is forecast to expand by 2.9 percent in 2015, according to the report.

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