Raisi Discusses 'Economic Prosperity' and 'Approaching the Peak' at Press Conference; Raisi Denies Reality

Ibrahim Raisi, the President of Iran, participated in a press conference ahead of the government event 'Government Week' in Iran, responding to questions from both domestic and foreign media reporters authorized by the Islamic Republic. He claimed that the country's economy has improved, while economic experts have told Voice of America that inflation and economic growth in Iran are concerning. The President of the thirteenth government asserted that the Iranian economy is in a period of prosperity and improvement, citing a decrease in consumer and producer inflation rates, alongside an increase in foreign trade with neighboring countries and a reduction in unemployment rates as evidence of this prosperity. Raisi claimed that by joining organizations such as Shanghai and BRICS, the project to isolate the Islamic Republic has failed. He stated that a 14% growth in trade with neighboring countries and Iran's membership in organizations like Shanghai and BRICS have expanded international economic relations. This claim comes as experts believe that as long as sanctions against Iran remain, these agreements will not lead to significant outcomes. In this context, Shahin Modarres, an international affairs expert, previously told Voice of America: 'Global sanctions do not allow Iran to increase its trade even with BRICS member countries.' Raisi also claimed that a budget deficit of nearly 480 trillion rials was compensated for in the first year of his administration. Contrary to this claim, the government's actions have involved tapping into the country's foreign currency resources to cover the budget deficit, and Hassan Mansour, an economic analyst, told the Persian section of Voice of America last week: 'The Islamic Republic government first announces high revenues and then withdraws the budget deficit from the foreign currency reserve fund.' Hussein Raghfar also mentioned how the budget deficit was covered, stating to Aftab News: 'In the thirteenth government, they have printed money as much as they could, and on the other hand, with the increase in the exchange rate, a significant portion of the budget deficit was covered. In fact, they covered the cost of the budget deficit from the people's pockets... We are close to the peak and will never allow despair to take hold.' Another claim by Ibrahim Raisi is that inflation has decreased from 60% to 46%, but experts have reported at least a sevenfold increase in food prices during Raisi's presidency, and the online newspaper Faraz wrote in July of this year that food inflation in the first four months of the year is so alarming that it is beyond anyone's imagination, and almost everyone has lost the ability to process numbers. Ibrahim Raisi claims that the unemployment rate has decreased to 8.2% and that the unemployment situation has significantly changed in 23 provinces. This claim of reduced unemployment comes as the Ensaf News website questioned the statistics provided in this regard in April of this year, stating that Raisi's contradictory figures have been repeated many times compared to what the Statistical Center published last year. This news website noted that Raisi had also said on Monday, September 7, 1401, that 970,000 jobs were created in the second half of 1400 and the first five months of this year. According to the report from the Statistical Center of Iran, during the nine-month period of autumn and winter 400 and spring 1401, the working-age population over 15 years increased by 719,000, while 10,000 fewer people were in the active population. The number of unemployed people also decreased by 31,000. The President of Iran also referred to imbalances in the electricity and gas sectors, stating that there have been no power outages this year. This claim by Ibrahim Raisi comes as ILNA news agency reported on September 5 that industries suffer billion-dollar losses with each hour of power outages, stating that every hour of power outage results in a 20% reduction in production. On July 22, the Ham-Mihan newspaper quoted a steel producer stating that for every 24 hours of halted production, his company incurs nearly 10 billion tomans in losses. The electricity imbalance crisis this summer led to changes in working hours for government offices and several days of nationwide closures. However, public reports indicate that water and electricity rationing and outages are ongoing in various cities. The market for VPNs worth 30 trillion tomans; Iranians use the internet for 169 minutes daily. The continuation of 'barter management of the economy' in Iran; the development of Imam Airport in exchange for oil has been handed over to the Chinese. A member of parliament stated: controlling inflation has not worked; people do not believe in the reduction of inflation. Inflation of 250% for essential goods; workers' wages are one-third of the poverty line. The Ministry of Labor again opposed the increase in the minimum wage for Iranian workers. An economist stated that the government is unable to control inflation. Joy before results; the Raisi government celebrated the invitation to 'BRICS', Saudi Arabia: we will review.