Posted by Iranian on February 9, 2007, 9:14 pm, in reply to "the artificial entity called "iran" is collapsing" --Previous Message--
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: Iran's economic conditions deteriorate
:
: 2/6/2007
:
:
: By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
:
:
: WASHINGTON — U.S. and Western
: pressure on Iran is squeezing its
: economy, feeding the inflation and
: joblessness that have swelled under
: its controversial president, Mahmoud
: Ahmadinejad.
:
: Trade figures and other data have
: begun to reflect deepening economic
: isolation taking place as a result
: of U.S.-led efforts to penalize
: Tehran for what the United States
: alleges is the pursuit of nuclear
: weapons and sponsorship of terrorist
: groups.
:
: For example, Iran's imports from
: Germany fell 14% in the first eight
: months of 2006, the German-Iranian
: Chamber of Commerce says. European
: Union countries account for 40% of
: Iran's imports, and Germany is
: Iran's largest European supplier,
: providing machinery, steel and
: electrical equipment, along with
: other goods.
:
: German government export credits,
: used to finance trade, also fell by
: a third last year and are expected
: to drop again this year, said Ulrich
: Sante, a spokesman at the German
: Embassy in Washington.
:
: "People who want to pursue
: legitimate commerce with the West
: will see that the policies
: Ahmadinejad is pursuing are leading
: to isolation and painting a more
: bleak economic future for the
: country," said Stuart Levey,
: U.S. Treasury undersecretary for
: terrorism and financial
: intelligence.
:
: The United Nations Security Council
: imposed sanctions on Iran in
: December after Tehran failed to
: suspend uranium enrichment. The
: sanctions block exports that can be
: used in Iran's nuclear and missile
: programs and freeze assets of
: officials linked to those programs.
:
: Separately, the Bush administration
: has cut off two Iranian banks from
: access to the U.S. financial system
: and dollar-based transactions on
: grounds that terrorists and weapons
: programs used accounts at those
: banks.
:
: The United States has had no
: diplomatic relations with Iran and
: has restricted trade with Tehran
: since 1980, when Iran took U.S.
: Embassy personnel hostage.
:
: Iran's economic challenges include:
: •Banking restrictions. A half-dozen
: European banks have ended or
: restricted dollar dealings with
: Tehran to avoid jeopardizing
: business with the United States.
: Mohammad Jafar Mojarrad, vice
: governor of Iran's Central Bank,
: said most of the lenders continue
: dealing with Iran in other
: currencies.
:
: Peter Pietsch, spokesman for giant
: German bank Commerzbank, said the
: institution halted dollar
: transactions with Iran on Jan. 31
: but still conducts transactions with
: Iranians in euros.
:
: Credit Suisse, a major Swiss-based
: financial services firm, stopped
: taking new clients in Iran in late
: 2005 "in light of the
: developments in the country … as
: well as to safeguard our
: reputation," spokeswoman Esther
: Gerster said.
:
: •Rising import costs. Saeed Laylaz,
: a Tehran business consultant, said
: exporters require Iranian buyers to
: deposit the full amount of a
: transaction to obtain letters of
: credit, and that has added 8% to 12%
: to the cost of imports.
:
: •Declining oil production. Oil
: Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh told
: the Iranian Student News Agency last
: year that Iran's annual oil output
: had declined by half a million
: barrels per day as the country
: struggled to pump from aging fields.
: Iran produces 3.9 million barrels
: per day and exports 2.4 million.
: Roger Stern, an economist at Johns
: Hopkins University, has predicted
: that Iranian oil exports could
: decline to zero by 2015 without a
: significant increase in investment
: or a decline in domestic
: consumption.
:
: Mojarrad said Iran was taking steps
: to encourage new investment. He
: cited a $10 billion deal signed last
: month by Spain's Repsol and Royal
: Dutch Shell to develop an offshore
: Iranian field.
:
: The Iranian economy continues to
: grow at a rate of more than 5% a
: year in inflation-adjusted figures,
: Mojarrad said. He said sanctions
: will hurt Americans more than
: Iranians by undermining the use of
: the dollar as a reserve currency,
: depressing its value and making U.S.
: imports more expensive.
:
: Even before the latest sanctions,
: the Iranian president's rhetoric —
: calling for Israel to be destroyed —
: and defiance on the nuclear issue
: appeared to have a chilling effect
: on investment and trade.
:
: Iran faced "a cooling off of
: the business environment in the last
: year because of the nuclear issue
: and the rhetoric" of
: Ahmadinejad, said Adam Pener of the
: Conflict Securities Advisory Group,
: a Washington-based consulting firm.
:
: Laylaz said the sanctions have added
: to problems caused by Ahmadinejad's
: free-spending policies. Inflation —
: officially 12%, according to Iran's
: Central Bank — is likely to rise to
: 15% this year, Laylaz said.
:
: Unemployment was 11.5% in the year
: ending in March, 1.2% higher than
: the previous year, according to the
: Iran Statistical Center. Food prices
: rose by a third from March to
: August, the cost of housing went up
: 14%, and the cost of medical care
: increased more than 18%, said Iran's
: Karafarin Bank, which provides
: overviews of the Iranian economy to
: the International Monetary Fund.
:
: Joblessness rose in spite of a 37%
: increase in Iran's hard currency
: earnings, derived mainly from oil.
: Iran's oil revenue was $50 billion
: last year. Oil revenue, taxes on oil
: and other oil-related income
: financed more than 70% of Iran's
: government spending, according to
: Karafarin Bank.
:
:
:
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