Page 45 - IRANRptJul22

in online banking payments through applications and an expansion of e-commerce.
8.3 Stock market
Iranian stock market investors hit by losses hold protest outside parliament
Tehran Stock Exchange sees losses
A group of Iranian shareholders who have suffered losses in recent months on January 20 mounted a protest outside Tehran’s parliament building, claiming that government policies led to a decline in stock prices, Radio Farda reported.
Some of the protesters reportedly chanted slogans against Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, calling him a liar, according to amateur videos posted online. There have been several similar protests held by stock market investors in Iran in recent months. At each demonstration, the protesters have pointed to government policies as responsible for losses. The Raisi administration has promised to deal with the market swings.
Volatility in Iranian share prices has in part been caused by uncertainty over where the ongoing Vienna talks aimed at reviving the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers are heading.
On January 20, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the talks to revive the nuclear deal, or JCPOA, have reached an "urgent" point following "modest progress" in negotiations.
"There is real urgency and it's really now a matter of weeks, where we determine whether or not we can return to mutual compliance with the agreement," Blinken told reporters.
The Tehran Stock Exchange’s main index, the TEDPIX, lost 7,716 points on November 16, following a loss of 26,174 points on November 15. The falls took it to 1.408mn points, continuing the sour market prevalent in an environment in which the Iranian rial (IRR) continues to lose its footing against the dollar and euro.
The TEDPIX gained 58,000 points (4.1%) to hit 1.456mn points in the previous Persian calendar week (ended on November 12), but the TSE has generally suffered in recent weeks with the market continuing to wobble over nervousness that the negotiations to revive the nuclear deal between Iran and major powers—due to restart on November 29—will not work out as Iran’s new hardline government will drive for too hard a bargain.
Following the Tehran market close on November 16, head of the Iranian Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) Majid Eshqi said that the government was following new approaches to avoid pre-ordered pricing on the bourse.
“The government's policy, in the long run, is to avoid pre-ordered pricing. This policy has been repeatedly stressed by the president and the government's economic team and has been placed on the government's agenda,” Eshqi was quoted by Mehr News as saying, adding that supply and demand should be the only determining factor in setting share prices.
45 IRAN Country Report July 2022 www.intellinews.com