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letter, read on state television.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Guardian Council has approved measures passed by parliament to bring the country more into line with global money-laundering norms, Fars News Agency reported on August 11. The move could be important to Tehran’s efforts to keep attracting substantial investments despite the reimposition of US sanctions.
Iran has been trying to implement standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global group of government anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-financing of terrorism regimes (CFT). If it is successful, the Islamic Republic may be removed from a blacklist that deters some foreign investors from dealing with it.
In June, FATF gave Iran until October to complete the reforms or face measures that could make investors even more reluctant to deal with the country. The Guardian Council vets legislation passed by parliament for compliance with Iran’s constitution.
3.0 Macro Economy
3.1 Macroeconomic overview
Iranian GDP growth in 2017-18 Persian calendar year gauged at 3.7%
I ran’s economy expanded by 3.7% during the 2017-2018 Persian calendar year (ended March 20), according to a report released by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) on June 16.
The report, compiled in conjunction with the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI), is the first such announcement jointly publicly endorsed by the two data providers, which often contradict one another on inflation and economic growth.
In April, the latest edition of the World Economic Outlook issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) determined that Iran’s GDP growth was set to edge down to 4.0% in both 2018 and 2019 after coming in at 4.3% in 2017.
The whole of last year and the January to early May period of this year were affected by foreign traders and investors holding off on doing business with Iran or slowing down the expansion of commercial relationships with Iranian companies given the anticipation that Donald Trump would move to withdraw the US from the nuclear deal and impose new sanctions on Tehran — something he went on to do in his announcement of May 8 . Further revisions of expected GDP growth in Iran, a country with a population of 80mn, can be expected as the impact of t he sanctions , and the secondary sanctions directed at foreign companies who opt to continue doing business with Iran, becomes clear. The US is intent on throttling Iran’s economy to achieve its ends.
The joint CBI/SCI report also stated that in the 2017-2018 Persian calendar year the services sector registered the highest growth of all sectors, registering 6.8%. Agriculture and industry grew by 1% and 1.6%, respectively, it added.
11 IRAN Country Report September 2018 www.intellinews.com