TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) Majid Eshqi has said a 10-part support package has been prepared for supporting the stock market and Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ehsan Khandouzi is going to unveil the package soon, IRNA reported.

“The 10-article package for supporting the capital market has been approved by the Government Economic Coordination Headquarters and the details of the proposals will be announced by Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs,” Eshqi said.

Based on the mentioned package, the government is going to prevent a sharp rise in the costs of the industrial production sectors and will also help Capital Market Development and Stabilization Fund, according to the official.

In addition to the specific budget line provided in the next fiscal year budget bill, the fund is expected to be provided a much bigger funding, approximately 10 times the allocated figure in the national budget bill, through the transfer of shares and other financing methods so that it can do its job, Eshqi explained.

Market analysts and experts believe that the allocation of a separate budget for the Capital Market Development and Stabilization Fund in the national budget bill shows that the government is taking the necessary measures to provide stronger support for the market and to ensure its growth in the future.

“The allocation of a budget line for Capital Market Development and Stabilization Fund is considered one of the most important points of the [Iranian calendar year] 1401 budget bill,” market Analyst Peyman Hadadi said earlier this week.

Over the past 15 months, continuous fluctuations in the Iranian stock market have led shareholders, experts, and scholars to believe that the government should not interfere in the stock market, saying the government's pre-ordered and unrealistic pricing of some state-owned shares is the main reason for the capital market’s current downward trend.

In mid-November, Eshqi had said the government was following new strategies to improve the capital market in the long term.

“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,” he said.

EF/MA