TEHRAN- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast a 0.6 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth for Iran in 2015 in its April World Economic Outlook.

The IMF report put Iran’s GDP growth at 3 percent in 2014, while predicting a 1.3 percent GDP growth for the country in 2016.

The report also said Iran maintained its 2013 rank as the World’s 18th largest economy in 2014 based on the purchasing power parity (PPP).

The country’s PPP stood at $1.334 trillion in 2014, with over $57 billion growth compared to 2013.

China, the U.S., and India gained the first to third places in the world according to the IMF ranking, with $17.617 trillion, $17.418 trillion, and $7.374 trillion PPP, respectively, in 2014.

On March 9, Iran's Government Spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said Iran’s GDP is forecast to grow 2.5 percent in the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21.

He said the National Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2010-2015) has envisaged a GDP growth of 8 percent.

In April 2014, the IMF said Iran had achieved considerable progress in raising per capita income and living standards in previous decades.