Iran’s economy is on a roller coaster. The past year saw a dramatic rise in inflation rates and a historic fall in the value of the rial. The protests which followed the death of a 22-yar old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini have magnified the creaks in the country’s economy.
On January 22, The Iranian rial was selling at an exchange rate of 450,000 against the greenback, an all-time low. The rial has lost 29% of its value since the time the protest started. Iran’s statistical agency reported an inflation rate of 48.5% in December 2022, the highest level since 1995. November data recorded food inflation of above 70% in 12 provinces of the country.
Reports from the country suggest that more than half of the population is living below the poverty line due to spiraling prices. As per the latest forecast, the World Bank predicts a GDP growth of 2.9% for Iran in 2022 which will slow down to 2.2% in 2023 and 1.9% in 2024 owing to “slower growth in key trading partners and new export competition from discounted Russian oil”. However, the government’s response to the bleak economic indicators so far had been subtle and unperturbed.
Causes
The unilateral withdrawal of the US from the nuclear deal in 2018 and the sanctions that followed on oil exports and international banking has put heavy stress on the country’s economy.
The country’s government debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 45% in 2020. According to World Bank, Iran’s unemployment rate reached 12.2% in 2020 before narrowly dipping to 11.5% in 2021. Iranian daily Etemad had reported that at least 23 workers have committed suicide since March 2022 in the country due to reasons like dismissal, punishment, or threats.
The government lifted import subsidies for essential goods in April 2022, to ease the pressure off the strained government budget, which subsequently triggered rapid spikes in food prices during May-June.
The Federal Reserve in November tightened its control over Iraqi commercial banks to restrict the illegal siphoning of dollars to Iran and other Middle-East countries. The new regulations blocked a huge chunk of daily dollar wire transfers to Iran. The Taliban takeover in 2021 had previously blocked access to hard currency to Iran via the Afghan route.
Amid the uprising, European Parliament approved a resolution designating the Iranian militia, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a ‘terrorist’ organization. It also called for sanctions on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, and others. The US and UK too imposed fresh sanctions on Iran.
Response
Iran retaliated on January 25th by imposing sanctions on 34 British and European individuals and entities.
Former Central Bank of Iran governor Ali Salehabai had been sacked in December due to failure to control the rapid depreciation of the rial. According to analysts in the region, the Central Bank is injecting dollars into the market to thwart further depreciation.
In late January, the Central Bank decided to raise the maximum amount of currency that can be sold to individuals annually from 2000 euros to 5000 euros, to instill confidence and ward off fears about the availability of currency. The cap was initially introduced to stabilize the currency after the US pull-out of the nuclear deal in 2018.
Iran has not resorted to austerity to tide over the crisis. Instead, President Ebrahim Raisi presented a noticeably enlarged national budget in January to boost growth. Valuing 21,640 trillion rials, the budget is 40% larger than the previous one. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was allocated $3 billion registering a 28% rise over the last year, in a taunting message to the west.
Recently, Iran introduced gold coin certificates in the stock market to raise cash and mitigate inflation. The government is desperate to raise cash as the government budget is posting a deficit of $9.75 billion. Critics point out unrealistic revenue estimates riding on oil sales and over-optimistic tax collection figures.
To raise revenue, Iran has increased its oil exports to China to more than 1.2 million barrels per day over the past three months. The sanctions have in effect caused Iran to warm up to western rivals like China and Russia. Iran and Russia are reportedly in talks over the introduction of a stablecoin, backed by gold, to bypass western sanctions in cross-border transactions.
Iran’s response to the looming economic crisis was devoid of any extreme desperation. The government took all necessary steps to keep the dread within bounds. The present security situation in the country could go haywire if the economy collapses.
It remains to be seen how fast the government can ensure reliable alternate arrangements in place to sustain the economy. If not immediately, chances are high that the country may drift to panic mode.
