PHOTO: Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani “Investors avoid business environments where the prospects are grim”
Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has added to the pressure on President Rouhani over Iran’s economy, questioning the Government’s planning.
Larijani told reporters on Saturday that the Government’s National Development Plan for 2016-2020 was inadequate in its approach to the recession that has weakened Iran’s economy for years: “I feel that the Plan still requires development to improve its overall quality. Parliament will work on this, and the Budget and Planning Organization would also provide help with the process.”
Rouhani had envisaged that January’s implementation of the nuclear deal with the 5+1 Powers would open the way to recovery, with Tehran recovering oil markets and renewing investment and trade amid the lifting of US-led sanctions.
However, the President has been limited both by the opposition of other officials, including the Supreme Leader, and the continuation of some American restrictions.
Iran has increased oil exports by 40%, to about two million barrels per day, since January. But the return of foreign investment has been slow, with European companies concerned about possible US punishment and hindered by Iran’s regulations and complex financial system. The Revolutionary Guards, with their extensive holdings in Iran’s economy, are also wary of a surge in links with foreign firms.
Last week the Supreme Leader raised the prospect that Iran will step away from the July 2015 nuclear deal, pursuing his vision of self-sufficiency in a “Resistance Economy”.
“Environment is Not Conducive to Boom”
Larijani presented a series of challenges on Saturday:
The business environment is not conducive to boom and investors avoid such environments where the prospects are grim. On JCPOA [the nuclear deal], we still face sabotage by the Zionist regime. The US Congress has spared no attempt to abort the deal’s achievements, and to provide an image of Iran as a high-risk country for investment.
He expressed concern that while “there has been some progress in some parts” of implementation of the nuclear agreement, “sabotage has been the dominant mode”. However, he did not go as far as the Supreme Leader’s warning: “The country has trodden the right path to safety out of the pandemonium which beset the region.”
The Government’s National Development Plan was supposed to be tabled for approval last year; however, it was delayed while arrangements were pursued over the nuclear deal and then by February’s elections for Parliament.
The previous Plan, pursued by the Ahmadinejad Government, was beset by allegations that officials had diverted funds and wasted revenues with mismanagement.
