COVID-19 Shrinks Iran’s Economy by Only 3%: President
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said while the novel coronavirus pandemic has slashed major economies in the world by up to 20 percent, Iran’s economy has contracted only by 3 percent.
In remarks at a Sunday session of the cabinet, attended by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei via videoconferencing, Rouhani highlighted his administration’s success in making the economy withstand pressures and carry out the Resistance Economy policies.
The president said the positive results of such a policy in confrontation with the external shocks have been obvious in recent years, as his administration has managed to deal with the plummeting oil prices and the “unprecedented and cruel sanctions” imposed by the US.
The successful experience of countering those two problems helped the administration handle the coronavirus pandemic, Rouhani said, adding that while many large economies have shrunk by up to 20 percent after the pandemic, the coronavirus-related problems have damaged Iran’s economy only by 3 percent.
Rouhani has repeatedly said that his administration is engaged in a battle on two fronts at the same time, dealing with the cruel foreign sanctions and addressing the coronavirus and its economic consequences.
The president said in June that the main priority in the administration’s economic plans is to control prices and supply the basic means of life.