TABRIZ, East Azarbaijan Province -- Managing Director of Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) Ahmad Mir-Motahari said here Sunday that return on stocks stood at about 43 percent in the last Iranian year (ended March 20).

He told IRNA that over two billion shares were transacted in the TSE in the same period.

He said that the value of the shares transacted topped Rls.75,000 billion which equals 50 percent of the national budget.

Mir-Motahari further said about three million investors are active in TSE annually, buying and selling shares.

He said that stock market is also expanding throughout the country, adding Mashhad and Tabriz Stock Exchanges are slated to open in June and December, respectively.