Overview: Iran Analysis Weekly Report Jan 31, 2016
31 Jan, 2016
Vistar Business Monitor
Iran and China signed a joint statement on developing their “comprehensive strategic partnership,” which includes improving defense and space cooperation as well as economic activities.
The Guardian Council informed Assembly of Experts candidates the results of its preliminary qualifications review. It will create a finalized list of candidates after reviewing disqualified candidates’ appeals from January 21 to February 9.
The candidates approved to run in the February 26 Assembly of Experts elections include Expediency Discernment Council Secretary Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has come under increasing criticism from the Principlist faction for suggesting the possibility of creating a triumvirate “Leadership Council” in lieu of a single Supreme Leader. Rejected candidates include Hojjat ol Eslam Hassan Khomeini, a grandson of Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Guardian Council will review any appeals by disqualified candidates by February 9, after which the Guardian Council will create a finalized list of candidates eligible to run.
Last week President Hassan Rouhani visited Italy, which resulted in several contracts in different fields of transportation, railroads, agriculture etc. worth more than $18 billion. Moreover, the president traveled to France on Wednesday, where several other major contracts with French aviation and automotive firms among others were announced. Following the automotive industry’s recent bullish trend in the stock market the two mentioned contracts are likely to be the long-standing contracts with the two large French car manufacturers Peugeot and Renault.
Moreover, Iranian and French companies signed several economic agreements during President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to France, including the purchase of Airbus planes. French oil and gas company Total signed an agreement with the National Iranian Oil Company that allows Total to purchase between 150,000 and 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Iran.
According to the latest announcement of the Central Bank of Iran, the country’s 12 month inflation rate for the tenth Persian calendar month of Dey (ending 20 January 2016) reached 13.2%, indicating 0.5 percent drop in comparison to the previous month. Moreover the country’s year-on-year inflation rate stood at 9.6% this month.
By the next strategic plan of the country, dubbed as the 6th Five-Year Economic Development Plan, authorities would do their best to reduce the size of the government and improve business environment, according to media reports.
It seems that the incumbent administration is serious to give priority to address the economic woes in the coming years, since it has come up with ideas and plans to reduce the size of the government and budget reliance on oil revenue, cut its debt to banks and contractors, reform the bureaucratic system and push for subsidy reforms. In the meantime, the administration of President Hassan Rouhani tries to make the economy more transparent, improve the business environment, organize credit and financial institutions, pay its debt to the private sector, and pave the ground for the inflow of foreign capital.
The 6th Five-Year Economic Development Bill was submitted to the parliament earlier in January, with a focus on economy, society, and culture.