TEHRAN – The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has said the growth in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2021 indicates that the Iranian economy is going on the right path and is moving toward recovery.

Speaking in an online meeting with the governors of the central banks and heads of financial institutes of the MENAP region (Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan) on Saturday, Ali Saleh-Abadi put Iran’s GDP growth in the second quarter of 2021 at 6.2 percent, IRIB reported.

“Like many other countries, Iran has also suffered severely from the coronavirus pandemic but is now on a solid path to economic recovery. The latest official statistics show a 6.2 percent growth in Iran's GDP in the second quarter of 2021, which is a significant achievement despite the severe restrictions preventing the country from accessing its foreign resources and the impossibility of purchasing vaccines from abroad due to the U.S. sanctions,” Saleh-Abadi said.

According to the CBI governor, the country’s economy excluding oil grew 4.7 percent which is also another indication of the country’s economic recovery.

“Also, due to the financial and monetary support policies of the government and the Central Bank of Iran, the unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2021 fell to 8.8 percent, which shows a decrease of one percent compared to the same period last year,” he added.

Mentioning the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy, Saleh-Abadi said no country is safe unless all countries are vaccinated against the virus, adding: “Given the single-digit vaccination rate in low-income countries, it is difficult to meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s target of 40 percent vaccination by the end of this year and 60 percent by mid-2022, and any delay in vaccination in any region is the biggest threat to the global economy.”

The official further welcomed the IMF’s new plan and strategy to help members meet the challenges of climate change, stating: “We all agree that climate change is a global threat that is disproportionately burdened by countries with a small share of carbon emissions. Climate change has many characteristics and dimensions, which are of different importance in different regions and countries.”

IMF, in its latest World Economic Outlook report titled “Recovery During a Pandemic”, predicted 2.5-percent GDP growth for Iran in 2021, with no change from the fund’s previous report.

The entity modified its forecasts of the global economic growth from six percent in its previous report to 5.9 percent; the fund expects the global economy to shrink even more in 2022 to settle at 4.9 percent in 2022.

Based on the IMF data, despite the sanctions and the negative impact of the pandemic, the Iranian economy is going to outperform many countries both in the region and across the world.

EF/MA