Chamber of Commerce President: The Largest Recession in 35 Years Prevails Over the Country

Masoud Khansari, the President of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, has announced that currently the "largest" recession in the last 35 years is dominating Iran's economy. According to the Tasnim news agency, Khansari made this statement on Saturday, December 14, at the 21st National Conference on Non-Oil Export Development in Tabriz. He added, "We are witnessing the largest recession in the last 35 years this year, yet taxes are set to double this year, and this increase in taxes is essentially to cover the salaries of government employees through taxation." In his remarks, Khansari referred to Iran's economic capacities and the "neglect" of them, stating, "Our economy needs a change in perspectives from the parliament and the government." He further stated that the government should move towards "shrinking," should adopt China as its economic model, and that unnecessary laws and regulations should be eliminated in favor of "development." This official also mentioned that the Ministry of Economy has identified two thousand permits that are hindering production. The Fars news agency also reported from this conference, quoting Khansari as saying, "Over the past 35 years, we have established laws and created obstacles every day, and given these issues, regulations need to be reformed." According to Fars, Khansari also noted, "Considering that there are two million and 700 thousand employees in the government, the main concern of the government is to cover its expenses." The International Monetary Fund had previously reported that Iran's economic growth this year would be around negative 0.5 percent to 0.5 percent, depending on when sanctions against Iran are lifted. The day before, Tasnim published an interview with Mohsen Rezaei, who spoke of the "inability" of Hassan Rouhani's government to exit the "recession." Rezaei added, "The economic recession prevailing in the country is unprecedented in terms of depth and duration in the history of Iran's economy." Earlier in October this year, the Ministers of Economy, Defense, Industry, Mining and Trade, and Labor and Social Welfare sent a joint letter to Hassan Rouhani warning about the continuation of the recession in Iran's economy. Following this letter, on October 27, the Economic Coordination Headquarters of the government published its new package to exit Iran's economy from recession. The Research Center of the Parliament evaluated the government's economic package as "inflationary" in a report in November this year titled "Analysis of the Government's Short-Term Economic Policies." Iran's economy has been in a state of recession for years, and the efforts of Hassan Rouhani's government in the past two years have not led to significant changes in this situation as government officials had hoped. The International Monetary Fund had previously reported that Iran's economic growth this year would be around negative 0.5 percent to 0.5 percent, depending on when sanctions against Iran are lifted. Economic experts say that Rouhani's government hoped that the nuclear agreement with six world powers would resolve existing economic problems, but several months after this agreement, it has not yet been implemented, and therefore this agreement has not had a significant impact on the state of Iran's economy.