Hassan Rouhani Announces Iran's Economic Growth of 11.6%

Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, announced that the country's economic growth rate reached 11.6% in the first nine months of the year 1395 (2016). On Tuesday, March 13, he stated that this figure is based on a report from the Central Bank. The President added, "Not only our enemies, but many of our friends inside the country did not believe in double-digit economic growth, and this is a very significant transformation." The Central Bank of Iran also confirmed the 11.6% growth for the first nine months of the year. Peyman Ghorbani, the Central Bank's economic deputy, mentioned that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth had a rising trend in the first nine months of the current year. He reported that the GDP growth without oil during this period was 1.9%, indicating a continuous improvement trend, with figures moving from -1.5% in the first quarter to 2.8% in the second quarter and 4.6% in the third quarter. Amid rising criticism of Rouhani's economic performance within Iran, the President and his economic officials are attempting to defend their record. Just days before Rouhani's remarks, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, expressed doubts about the government's statistics regarding the improvement of people's economic conditions, stating that "these do not affect people's lives and livelihoods in the short and medium term." Two days prior, Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Assembly of Experts and Secretary of the Guardian Council, had asked the President to provide a report on the implementation of the "resistance economy" and to demonstrate the actions taken on the ground rather than just through words. Jannati also urged Rouhani to apologize to the people if he had not adhered to the resistance economy. However, the next day, Rouhani dismissed questions about the government's success in the resistance economy as "irrelevant" and "the worst question." On March 12, a letter from 40 university professors and economic experts close to the principlist faction was published, criticizing the economic situation in Iran, particularly in areas such as youth employment, bank balance sheets, government debt, and stagnation in production units, stating that the country's economy is in a "very dangerous situation." The letter urged the President to have acted on repeated and benevolent recommendations from the beginning of his administration and not to tie government economic policies to the results of negotiations. It noted that when he openly promised the community a decisive victory and resolution of all problems after the nuclear agreement, it was natural for economic actors to withdraw from investments and delay business decisions until they saw the results of the JCPOA, leading to widespread recession, paralyzing businesses, and pushing many production units towards bankruptcy and closure. However, in his remarks on Tuesday, the Iranian President stated that during his administration, "despite the fact that oil revenues even dropped to about one-third to one-fourth at one point, there was no turmoil in the market, and people's lives were not disrupted, which can be the greatest criterion for moving towards a resistance economy." On the same day, Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Iran, described the government's performance in the resistance economy as "honorable," and Ali Tayebnia, the Minister of Economy, stated that Rouhani's government had achieved significant successes in the field of resistance economy.