Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 15
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
The FATF, CFT and other international agreements cannot fundamentally solve Iran’s economic problems, Seyed Mohsen Alavi, the Member of Presidium of National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament said in an interview with ISNA news agency Oct. 15.
"But they can periodically exert psychological influence on economy”, Alavi added.
He noted that before discussion of the extent of influence exerted by CFT on solution of the country’s economic problems, it is necessary to inquire into causes of occurrence of problems and crisis in the area of economy.
Iranian lawmakers on Sunday approved a bill on the country’s accession to Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) standards set by the FATF (Financial Action Task Force).
The parliament’s open session debating the CFT kicked off on Sunday morning with 268 lawmakers in attendance.
Reportedly, a total of 143 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill while 120 voted against it. Five MPs also abstained.
“The economic crisis cannot be treated the same way as the political issues. The source of crisis should be searched for in the country’s infrastructure,” Alavi said.
Alavi noted that when taking into consideration the existence of such problems of sub-sectors of economy, the CFT (Combating the Financing of Terrorism) and FATF cannot cause any changes in economy.
"Of course, its psychological influence on economy cannot be denied. But, in fact, the CFT has no direct influence on Iran’s economic system. Instead of being reliant on such conventions, it is necessary to improve the status of banks. The banks have fixed the interest rate at the level of 25 percent, and the financial institutions have fixed the revenue rate at the level of 35 percent," he said.
"The banks should prevent inflation and should give impetus to the economic development," Alavi said.
The official went on to add that the CFT has put an end to the excuses of Europe, China and some other countries for abstaining from cooperation with Iran.
"But this does not mean that the problems of the Iranian economic system will be solved by means of CFT. The country’s economy should be readjusted. If this measure is not taken, the crisis will be experienced again in the forthcoming years," he warned.