Page 5 - IRANRptMay20
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        Previous forecasting from the World Bank that Iran might at least see a GDP stagnation of 0.0% in 2020 came before the coronavirus health and economic emergency and can thus be thrown in the waste paper basket.
The US sanctions-weary Iranian economy—one of the earliest affected by a COVID-19 outbreak, which is the worst in the Middle East—was also projected by the IMF to endure ​consumer price inflation of 34.2% and 33.5% this year and next year, respectively.​Last year, the rate was an estimated 41.1%.
For Iran’s ​current account balance​across 2019, 2020 and 2021, the IMF gave estimated figures of -0.1%, -4.1% and -3.4% of GDP, respectively. For Iran’s​ unemployment rates ​across 2019, 2020 and 2021, the IMF estimated 13.6%, 16.3% and 16.7% of GDP, respectively.
 2.0​ ​Politics
2.1​ ​Iran divides country into red, white and yellow
COVID-19 zones
         Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has unveiled a region-by-region approach to easing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic controls.
Rouhani informed his cabinet that Iran’s regions and cities will be broken down into “risk zones” mapped as red, yellow or white according to the extent of the COVID-19 outbreak found in each area. Red indicates the worst-case scenario of a total lockdown, while white denotes an awarded freedom to move around to go to the mosque or work. Yellow represents a status somewhere in between.
Rouhani said the health ministry would announce dates for the resumption of activities in white zones within a few days.
On April 29, the ministry announced 80 more deaths of people from, or with, a coronavirus infection, taking the total to 5,957. Officially, Iran has recorded 93,657 COVID-19 cases, with 2,965 patients said to be in a serious or critical condition.
The virus fatality rate has been slowing for more than two weeks.
Tehran officials have concerns that the relaxing of lockdown measures in the capital may cause a secondary spike in infections.
 2.2​ ​Iran tests “online court” that protects trial participants from coronavirus
   The Iranian judiciary has launched an “online court” as a social distancing measure brought in to address the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, CITNA reported on April 23.
 5​ IRAN Country Report May 2020 www.intellinews.com
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