Torkamani: Embezzlement and Financial Corruption, a Constant Feature of Iran's Political Economy

Ali Dini Torkamani, an economist, in a note written for the annual of Shargh newspaper, refers to a list of positive actions taken by the eleventh government in the economic sphere and states that "the eleventh government has strived to stabilize the macroeconomic environment and improve the business climate since it began its work, and has prioritized avoiding hasty decision-making." This economics professor attributes the improvement of some macroeconomic indicators to the hopes created after the nuclear negotiations and writes: "The assumption of the government's economic team is that by repositioning economic players in the chessboard of Iran's economy, productivity will increase and the business climate will improve." However, Dini Torkamani believes that the root of these two problems lies in weak "absorption capacity" and "institutional layering," which overcoming them requires institutional reforms. According to this institutional economist, the significant drop in global oil prices has disrupted the government's equations and calculations. In his critique of Iran's economic environment, he describes "embezzlement and financial corruption" as a constant feature of the political economy in Iran and believes that the publication of news regarding corruption cases will not be "unexpected." ***** Pouya Jabal Ameli, an economic expert, in a note for the annual of Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper, using statistics related to inflation and economic growth, believes that macroeconomic indicators indicate a better situation than before. He further raises the question of how effective the government's economic policies have been in reducing the inflation rate to below 15 percent and achieving a 3 percent economic growth rate in 1393 (2014). According to Pouya Jabal Ameli, the eleventh government prioritized controlling and reducing the inflation rate from the very beginning of its work and emphasized that "the continuation of inflation reduction" could be one of the evidences of the effectiveness of the government's economic policies. This economic expert considers the "first tangible step of the government" in the real economic space to be the "non-inflationary exit from recession," which, according to Mr. Jabal Ameli, not only had a macro view of Iran's economy but also defined the responsibilities of each government sector in line with the goal of exiting the recession. According to the writer of the Donya-e-Eqtesad note, however, this plan quickly fell out of the government's focus, which he attributes to the simple reason of "the drop in oil prices." In his concluding analysis, this economic expert acknowledges that "while accepting the successes evident in economic statistics," he admits that "these successes are more a result of the government's approach to reducing tensions and increasing stability at the macro level of political economy than economic policymaking." According to Pouya Jabal Ameli, "the capacity for the impact of economic policies, especially in the coming year and a possible agreement in the nuclear case, is much greater than this."