100 billion needed
Iran cannot achieve economic goals alone
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Iran is struggling with double-digit inflation and unemployment rates. A boost in economic growth could counteract this, but sanctions are paralyzing the country. The financial injection should come from abroad.
According to President Massoud Peseschkian, Iran needs foreign investments worth around $100 billion. This sum is necessary to achieve the goal of economic growth of eight percent per year, said Peseschkian in an interview with state television. It was his first live interview since being elected president in July.
Peseschkian said Iran would need a total of up to $250 billion to reach its goal. However, more than half of this sum is available from domestic sources. According to experts, gross domestic product growth of eight percent would reduce double-digit inflation and unemployment rates. Growth is currently around four percent.
However, hundreds of companies and individuals in Iran – from the central bank and government officials to drone manufacturers and money changers – are subject to international sanctions. Many of them are accused of supporting Iran's Revolutionary Guard and foreign militant groups such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Peseschkian decried the sanctions in the interview and said his government plans to reduce inflation, which runs more than 40 percent annually. To do this, the problems with the neighbors and the world would have to be solved. He didn't give any details.
The president confirmed that his first foreign visit would be to Iraq. He will then fly to New York and take part in the United Nations General Assembly on September 22nd and 23rd. He announced in New York that he wanted to invite Iranians living abroad to invest in Iran. Of the more than eight million Iranian emigrants, about 1.5 million live in the United States.
Peseschkian was sworn in last month and is considered reform-oriented. His predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, died in a helicopter crash in May.
