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consists of 3.4 members and that families of four now account for 30.4% of the society. The majority of families (59.8%) have only one breadwinner. Housing costs account for the biggest slice of income expenditure.
The IMF’s World Economic Outlook released last October forecast that unemployment would increase to 12.8% in 2018 and 14.3% in 2019.
5.0 External Sector & Trade
5.1 Balance of payments and current account
Iran’s central bank chief urges Europe to kickstart trade vehicle
Central Bank of Iran (CBI) governor Abdolnaser Hemmati has urged Europe to waste no more time in commencing the first transactions on its Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (Instex) payment vehicle, a mechanism designed to shield businesses from US sanctions. Its latest remarks on Instex were "threadbare", he complained.
Iran has become increasingly annoyed at the slow pace of the three European powers behind the special purpose vehicle—France, Germany and the UK—in moving towards a start-date for Instex.
“The simplest solution to operationalise the Instex and STFI [Iran’s counterparty entity] mechanisms is for EU companies and entities to buy Iranian crude and for Europe to open a credit line for its exporters to start exporting to Iran,” Hemmati wrote in an Instagram post on May 13.
“More than a year ago, Europe was seeking a financial mechanism for trade with Iran that was finally introduced three months ago,” added. “It’s nearly two months since a parallel mechanism to Instex, the Special Trade and Financing Instrument b etween Iran and Europe (STFI) was set up in Tehran and its managers were introduced to the Europeans,” Iran’s top banker also noted.
Iran officially launched its STFI on May 1, just as the US announced it was cranking up its sanctions campaign against Iran by adopting a strategy in which it will not tolerate any Iranian oil exports with waivers, which it had done for the previous six months on behalf of eight countries including China, India and Turkey.
17 IRAN Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com