TEHRAN - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has instructed Oil Ministry to take the necessary measures for increasing the presence of oil and petrochemical companies in the stock market, Shana reported.

Rouhani, in a telephone conversation with Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, referred to the listing of state-owned companies on the stock market and stressed the need for a stronger and more active presence of oil and petrochemical companies in this market.

In this telephone conversation, Zanganeh reported on the progress of the country’s oil and gas projects and discussed the global oil market and its future developments.

The main index of the Tehran Stock Market has been rising significantly in the past few months after more and more government-owned companies signaled offering their shares in the market.

Earlier this week, Rouhani described the significant rise of Tehran Stock Exchange’s index as a sign of the strength of Iran's political system.

On April 26, the executive regulations of the budget plan of the current Iranian calendar year (began on March 19) regarding the privatization of state-owned enterprises was referred to Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs for implementation.

Following a privatization program envisioned in the Fifth Five-Year National Development Plan (2010-2015), aiming to privatize about 20 percent of the state-owned firms each year, the government also pursued privatization of its companies in the Sixth national development plan.

Under the present interpretation of the Article 44, some state-owned companies have been privatized to reduce their financial burden on the country’s budget and also increase their productivity.

EF/MA