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its World Economic Outlook​.​ Early this year, the Fund was forecasting that the GDP decline would be around 6%, but that was before May’s introduction of the US policy to attempt to drive all of Iran’s crude oil exports off world markets.
Some international economists put Iran’s inflation rate a good deal higher than what is portrayed by the country’s official statisticians. Iran’s annual inflation rate rose sharply from about 10% in mid-2018 to about 52% in April 2019.
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) on September 21 updated the official exchange rates. The pound edged up to ​IRR51,875​ while the euro declined to​ IRR46,408 on the official CBI exchange rate board. The US dollar, now essentially on official lockdown in Iran, remained fixed at IRR42,000. Iran continues to remove the greenback from daily transactions, partly to get around the US sanctions.
Iran should work to eliminate the gap that currently exists between the Iranian rial (IRR) market exchange rates and official exchange rate, according to the IMF, which will help tame and control inflation and reduce pressure on the exchange rate. The IRR is around two-thirds weaker against the dollar on the unofficial market compared to where it stood before it became clear early last year that the US was switching its Iran policy back to a sanctions-led approach.
2.0​ ​Politics
2.1​ ​Iran’s Rouhani would “negotiate in an hour” with US if
Washington removed sanctions
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said he would “negotiate in an hour” if the US removed sanctions targeted at his country, IRNA reported on December 4.
He reiterated the longstanding Iranian government position that Iran would enter into discussions with the US if it returned to compliance with the nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), meant to protect Iran from major sanctions in return for the country keeping its nuclear development programme purely civilian in nature.
“When I was in New York, I said if US President Trump removed the sanctions, I would meet with him in an hour,” said Rouhani, referring to his trip to the city for the UN General Assembly meeting.
“The moment the US lifts all of its unjust, wrong, and terrorist sanctions on Iran, heads of the P5+1 could immediately gather for a joint meeting,” Rouhani said. The P5+1 refers to the UN Security Council's five permanent members—namely China, France, Russia, the UK and US—plus Germany. Apart from the US, which unilaterally walked out of the nuclear deal in May 2018, all these countries, along with Iran, remain signed up to the nuclear deal.
Rouhani made the remarks during an address at a conference in Tehran on
5​ IRAN Country Report​ December 2019 www.intellinews.com