TEHRAN- Regarding the capital market expectations from the future president, a board member of Iran’s Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) said the people's choice must have an understanding of the capital market and its place in the economy.

And this issue also influences the decision-making process of the next president, Seyed Mehdi Sadidi told Tasnim news agency on Saturday.

This year, following what happened in the first half of last year, the stock market was in a volatile situation, and accordingly, investors are still waiting for the market to return to a stable period, he explained.

Referring to this year’s presidential election, Sadidi said: "In this situation, we should use top managers with perceptual skills in the basics of politics and decision-making, and then look for technical skills, but it is while the words of some presidential candidates are being reduced to the microstructures of the stock exchange instead of the macroeconomy and the capital market, so we must focus on the candidates who are careful enough in this regard.”

“On the other hand, instability of laws is another issue that should be considered in the field of stock market; as in the capital market, we always recommend that we should be present in this market with a long-term vision. This is while momentary decisions are in conflict with this issue”, the SEO board member further stated.

Iran is on the verge of yet another political turning point as the current government incumbency gets closer to its end and seven new presidential candidates line up to try their luck for leading the next government.

Iran’s thirteenth presidential election is scheduled to be held on June 18 and this round, the current incumbent president Hassan Rouhani would be ineligible to run for re-election as he was limited to two terms or eight years in office.

Since the last presidential election in 2017, a series of events have drastically changed the Iranian political and economic landscape, on top of which the re-imposition of the U.S. sanctions and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic can be mentioned.

The economy, among other factors, has always played a key role in the Iranian elections and it has been high on the agenda of every candidate years after years. Due to the country’s current economic situation, this year, however, the issue is more significant in comparison to the previous rounds.

The impact of sanctions, exacerbated by the pandemic, has caused one of the toughest economic situations in the country's history, imposing a huge burden on people’s livelihood and business activities, so the majority of people and businesses are closely monitoring the new candidates’ programs for addressing the current economic issues.

It can be said that economic programs will be the determining factor for the success of the presidential candidates in the current round of elections.

MA/MA