Iran Set For Another Year of Record Economic Growth

TEHRAN, Nov. 10 (Mehr News Agency) -- Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Ebrahim Sheibani on Sunday said Iran had registered record economic growth of over 7.4 percent in 2002, stressing that this was five times the economic growth of the Persian Gulf states. He added that statistics indicate that Iran should also experience considerable economic growth this year.

Economists believe that Iranian economic indexes show that in general, the country’s economy is booming.

As a matter of fact, Iran has the highest rate of economic growth in the region and has the potential for increased economic growth. Iran’s foreign exchange reserves in foreign banks stand at 18 billion dollars.

Also, according to economic indexes, Persian Gulf states averaged 1.8 percent economic growth and North African and Middle Eastern countries averaged 2.6 percent economic growth in the year 2002 compared to Iran’s economic growth of 7.4 percent last year. Iran’s economic growth was about one percent higher than the projection for 2002 according to the Third Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2000-2005).

Economic analysts believe that various factors have contributed to Iran’s outstanding economic growth such as the improved quality and quantity of Iranian manufactured goods, the rise in the gross national product, and the improvement in Iran’s economic relations with other countries.

Improving the country’s economic structure, supporting domestic products, promoting technological advancement, and implementing the laws and regulations meant to encourage and support investment are other effective measures.

The significant growth in Iran’s economic cooperation and trade exchanges at the regional and international levels is also a significant factor.

All the aforementioned factors are indicative of the stability of the economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These factors in turn have elevated Iran’s economic role and credibility in the region.

Over 1.2 billion dollars of foreign capital has been invested in the Islamic Republic of Iran over the past 10 months. This figure shows a 3.5-fold increase over the average in recent years.

The implementation of comprehensive and appropriate monetary and foreign exchange policies has paved the way for Iran’s economic growth. It is not surprising that the country’s economic officials and planners have been able to formulate a plan for Iranian economic development over the next 20 years.

RA/SRM/HG

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MNA

News ID 2882