Baku, Azerbaijan, June 24
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: More than 1560 billion rials (about $47 million based on market exchange rate) of Iranian government shares were transferred to the private sector in the first quarter of the current Iranian fiscal year, which began on March 21.
Some 80 million shares, worth 144 billion rials (about $4.5 million) were sold in the first Iranian fiscal month of Farvardin (March 21-April 20), while no government share was sold in the second fiscal month of Ordibehesht (April 21-May 21). The rest of the shares were sold in the third fiscal month of Khordad (May 22-June 21), Iran 's IRNA news agency reported June 24.
The Iranian government has envisioned a large privatization program in the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015), aiming to privatize about 20 percent of state-owned firms each year.
Under the present interpretation of the Article 44 of Iran's Constitution, hundreds of state-owned companies have been privatized.
Since the start of the privatization plan in 2005, nearly 1400 trillion rials (about $42.5 billion) of government shares have been transferred to the private sector.
Edited by CN