Page 40 - IRANRptJul18

Iran (CBI) said on May 28. The surge in property sales in Iran’s capital comes as Iranians look to stave off any further losses caused by the plight of the Iranian rial (IRR), down more than 50% in value on the black market over the past six months in the face of economic jitters triggered by hostility and impending heavy sanctions from the Donald Trump administration.
Property has always been seen as a safer bet in uncertain times in Iran.
As prices increase amid rising demand, Tehran developers often try to make units more affordable by cramming small apartments into a building.
In total, 19,100 residential units changed hands during the one-month period. The previous month saw fewer transactions because people were gradually arriving back from the two-week Nowruz new year holiday. The month on month property sales jump was thus unsurprisingly as big as 278.7%.
New home sales (the data groups properties less than five years-old) accounted for the most significant share of sales in the second month, with some 8,392 units sold, which was equivalent to 43.9% of all properties sold. Tehran’s newer western suburbs see the bulk of transactions due to property availability and lower prices overall. The most expensive area of Tehran remains the mountain-hugging, wealthy neighbourhood of District 1. Its official average per sqm price is IRR125.4mn.
9.1.7 Tourism sector news
Hormatollah Rafei, chair of the Travel Agents Association of Iran, said 5,000 Iranians travelled to Russia for the football competition, with each due to stay for an average of 10 days. He added that the average cost of their trips was IRR150mn to IRR350mn ($3,600 to $8,300).
"Given the fact that 3,000 people went to Russia, total foreign currency exiting the country would be IRR410bn to IRR1 trillion ($9.7-24m)," Rafie noted. Rafie lamented the loss, saying it would have to be retrieved by inbound tourism. Such tourism is, however, continuing to fall due to the worsening political situation caused largely by the unravelling of the nuclear deal in the face of hostility and sanctions from the US.
Meanwhile, as the ongoing collapse of the rial continues, the numbers of people travelling abroad will continue to fall as less Iranians will afford trips to regional neighbours like Turkey and Georgia.
Also, the recent increase in departure tax for those leaving Iran for the first, second and third trips has dented enthusiasm for foreign travel. The tax a seen as a troublesome issue for many travellers. The government announced it would increase it by at least threefold during this budget year.
Rafie called the state’s approach to the tax “wrongheaded”. He said: “I don’t think it should not be collected [by officials], but the income generated should be paid into Iran’s tourism industries, to construct hotel, retail and leisure facilities to boost inbound travel.”
9.1.8 Metallurgy & mining sector news
Iran is on track to launch a new aluminium smelter early next year that would boost the country’s output by 70%, Mehdi Karbasian, deputy minister of industry, mining and trade, reportedly told the CRU Aluminium conference in London on April 24. Such a gain in aluminium production would make the Islamic Republic self-sufficient in the metal by taking advantage of rich natural gas reserves, Reuters reported. The South Aluminium Corp (Salco) smelter, a $1.2bn facility designed to produce 300,000 tonnes/yr in its first phase, is being built the Lamerd special economic zone in
40 IRAN Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com