TEHRAN – International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a recent economic outlook report has said inflation in Iran which was reported to be 49 percent in 2022 is expected to fall to 42 percent in 2023 and then to 30 percent in 2024.

The IMF report indicates that Iran's economy, after experiencing 2.5 percent growth in 2022, will grow two percent in 2023 and 2024, which is less than the average growth in West Asia and the world, Tasnim News Agency reported.

However, the fund sees a high economic growth for India and China as the two largest consumers of energy in the world and this can be a positive sign for the prospect of Iran’s oil and energy exports and in general the Islamic Republic’s trade with these countries, since Iran has been recently improving its relations with the mentioned countries under regional trade agreements such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

According to the IMF, it is expected that in 2023, the inflation rate will decline in more than 76 percent of the world's economies. In the meantime, inflation in most West Asian countries, including Iran, is also expected to decrease.

The entity also sees oil prices decrease by 24.1 percent and 5.8 percent in the next two years, respectively. This reduction can be important from the perspective of Iran's economy, considering that 30 percent of this year's budget is dependent on oil.

Back in April, the IMF had predicted that Iran's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on the purchasing power index will grow by $91 billion or two percent in 2023 to reach $1.7 trillion.

Based on the IMF data, Iran's GDP per capita is also expected to increase by $865 based on the purchasing power index to reach $19,528 in 2023 from $18,663 in 2022.

IMF saw Iran's GDP excluding oil growing by two percent in 2023, and the growth of the country’s economy including oil would be 2.1 percent this year.

EF/MA