Page 25 - IRANRptNov18

The Iranian state continues to offload shares and entire businesses as part of its wider goal of divesting from several industries. In addition, several state firms which hold shares in many companies have been directed to sell off their non-core assets.
The IPO is expected to float the earmarked shares on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) and the over-the-counter Iran Fara Bourse (IFB). Full details of which equities will be made available on its website.
On October 9, the IPO released 363mn shares of the Railway and Services Technical Construction Engineering Company (RSTS Co.), via the IFB, to investors.
The past three Iranian presidential administrations have slowly removed their ownership of government companies in a bid to drive capital by private investors into inefficient companies. This push has accelerated under President Hassan Rouhani administration. It has made divestments in several profitable sectors including oil and petrochemicals.
Presently, with the collapse of the Iranian rial against the dollar under pressure from renewed US sanctions, local investors have shown more interest in the stock market as they widen their search for more accessible and promising assets. The continuing divestiture of assets is also seen as helping the government counter ongoing capital flight from the country brought about by Iran’s economic turmoil.
6.2 Debt
Iran - Gross external debt 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Mar-18
External debt (USD bn)
20.030 17.344 7.406 7.006 5.441 6.322 7.475 8.481 10.910
External debt (% GDP)
4.281 2.929 1.258 1.366 1.277 1.577 1.9 2.0 2.4
Source: World Bank, CEIC
Iran's foreign debt stood at $6.3bn in 2015, down almost 64% compared to the figure in 2011, when sanctions were placed on the country, the World Bank (WB) said in its latest International Debt Statistics 2017 report. Iran’s debt fell substantially thanks to the post-sanctions country being able to access frozen assets in several nations, including the US.
The report said that in 2015 Iran's long-term foreign debt was $2.3bn, its foreign short-term debt was $2.0bn and its debt owed to international financial organisations was also $2.0bn. The ratio of external debt to GDP stood at 1.6% for 2015, down from 2.9% in 2011.
25 IRAN Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com