TEHRAN- Head of Iranian Privatization Organization (IPO) Abdollah Pouri-Hosseini announced on Saturday that 200 state-run companies will be transferred to the private sector by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2017), Shana news agency reported.

Since its establishment, i.e., during the past 15 years, IPO has sold shares of 1,111 government companies to the private sector, he added.

IPO transferred 5.760 trillion rials (about $162.34 million) worth of Iranian state-run shares to the private sector from the beginning of the present Iranian calendar year (March 20, 216) to September 13, Tasnim news agency reported.

Some 1.987 trillion rials (about $56 million) of the mentioned shares have been offered to the private sector via Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), 511 billion rials (about $14.4 million) via Iran's over-the-counter (OTC) market, known also as Iran Fara Bourse (IFB), and 3.262 trillion rilas (about $91.9 million) have been divested through holding tenders.

HJ/MA/MG