TEHRAN – Some 500 trillion rials (around $10.5 billion) was invested in development projects in the previous Iranian calendar year, ended on March 20, said Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, head of Budget and Planning Organization.

Moreover, 172 trillion rials (around $3.5 billion) of bank loans was paid to manufacturing units of the private sector, IRNA quoted Nobakht as saying.

He went on to say that the administration is prepared to allocate 730 trillion rials (around $15 billion) for implementing 12 plans aimed to create 1.033 million jobs and reduce poverty in the country.

In December 2017, Nobakht said that the administration would create 830,000 job opportunities in the current Iranian calendar year 1397 (March 2018-2019).

“70 percent of the mentioned job opportunities will go to the educated workforce,” he noted.

In its January 2018 report of Global Economic Prospects, the World Bank forecasted a four-percent growth for Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018.

The report put the country’s GDP growth at 3.6 percent in 2017 and foresaw a 4.3 percent GDP growth for 2019.

It also said that growth in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the second largest economy in the region, is expected to reach 4.3 percent by 2020, with higher investment growth offset by lower oil production and limited access to finance.

MG