Page 12 - IRANRptSep18

Iranian MPs fire economic affairs minister for failures amid financial turmoil
Iran’s parliament sacked minister of economic affairs and finance Masoud Karbasian on August 26, removing him with a 137-to-121 vote for failing to satisfactorily deal with the country’s economic turmoil, state media reported.
The Iranian rial (IRR) has lost more than half its value since April while some assessments of foreign economists have put Iranian inflation at more than 200% , compared to the official figure of around 10%. While there is acknowledgement among both hardliners and centrists that Iran’s woes are a result of the “economic attack” unleashed on the country by the US, there is also widespread disappointment that the Rouhani government has not fought back more effectively and suffered from a lack of preparedness.
The Karbasian sacking took place after Iranian MPs also complained of problems in the banking system and with tax regulation. The move comes after the early August firing by Iranian lawmakers of the minister of labour and President Hassan Rouhani’s m ove last month to replace the much-criticised head of the central bank. On August 5, Iranian authorities detained a vice governor of the regulator who was in charge of foreign exchange, alleging economic crimes.
Elias Hazrati, of the reformist Hope faction, was among MPs who voted to remove Karbasian. He said the government failed to plan for the impact of the sanctions. "We haven't been prepared and we are not prepared now. The only person we could get our hands on was the economy minister. Otherwise, the president should have been impeached," AFP reported him as saying.
3.2 Macro outlook
Second phase of US sanctions ‘to tip Iran back into recession’
The second and heavier phase of US sanctions aimed at Tehran will tip the Iranian economy back into recession with its GDP set to contract by 3.7% in 2019, global forecasting and quantitative analysis consultancy Oxford Economics said on August 28. The sanctions, due to take effect from November 5, target “Iran’s oil industry and crude exports which form the backbone of the economy and the primary source of revenue and foreign currency for the government [and they] will cripple the economy”, Mohamed Bardastani at Oxford Economics said in a note.
12 IRAN Country Report September 2018 www.intellinews.com