Page 12 - IRANRptAug21

Nineteen countries around the world—including India, Argentina, Iran, Nepal, the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan, Costa Rica, Ecuador and South Africa—were found to be most at risk after recording huge increases in oxygen demand since March—rises of at least 20%—while having vaccinated less than one fifth of their populations.
Many of the countries faced oxygen shortages before the pandemic, Leith Greenslade, coordinator of the Every Breath Counts Coalition, told the Guardian, with the extra need pushing health systems to the brink.
Robert Matiru, who chairs the Covid-19 Oxygen Emergency Taskforce, told the bureau: “We could see the total collapse of health systems, especially in countries with very fragile systems.”
Several countries have demanded that companies which produce liquid oxygen divert products from their industrial clients to hospitals. Medical oxygen makes up just 1% of global liquid oxygen production. However, data from Gasworld Business Intelligence, which analyses the global industrial gases market, shows that many of the countries most in need would still see shortages even if all local oxygen production was diverted to hospitals.
In Iraq, gas companies can produce about 64,000 cubic metres of liquid oxygen a day, a third of what the country’s COVID-19 patients need. The World Bank has warned that many countries have not applied for emergency loans available to help them upgrade oxygen systems.
3.0 Macro Economy
3.1 Macroeconomic overview
Iran’s recession ‘over as economy clocks 2020/2021 calendar year growth of 3.6%
Iran’s economy grew by 3.6% in the 2020/2021 Persian calendar year (ended March 20), Akbar Komijani, lately appointed caretaker governor at the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), was cited as saying by Press TV.
If verified, it would mean Iran has emerged from the long and bitter recession that set in around May 2018 when former US president Donald Trump hit Tehran with renewed and intensified heavy sanctions.
Komijani was also reported as stating that Iranian GDP expanded in the Persian year fourth quarter by 7.7%. That was said to have followed two successive quarters of growth beginning late July 2020.
Iran’s economy, excluding oil revenues, expanded by 2.5% in the last Persian year while the oil sector itself grew by 11.2%, according to the details given by the acting central bank chief.
“This situation indicates that the Iranian economy’s GDP has been out of recession in three quarters both with oil and without oil,” IRIB News quoted Komijani as saying.
12 IRAN Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com