Iran’s economy has come out of recession following two consecutive quarters of growth, says the Central Bank of Iran’s governor.
“The positive growth in the second quarter of the current fiscal year [June 21-Sept. 21, 2020] recurred in the third quarter [Sept. 22-Dec. 20, 2020],” Abdolnasser Hemmati wrote in an Instagram post.
According to the CBI chief, Iran’s GDP rose by 3.9% in the second quarter and stood at 2.9% by excluding crude oil, compared with the corresponding period of the year before.
“I can confidently say today Iran’s economy has weathered tough sanctions and the ensuing recession is repositioned on the path to growth,” he added.
Hemmati noted that the growth experienced by Iran’s economy is especially important since the country has been grappling with the US maximum pressure in recent years, in addition to the pandemic.
He added that a detailed report on Iran’s GDP growth in the third quarter (fall) will be published by CBI within a week.
His account of GDP growth comes after the Statistical Center of Iran put Q3 growth at 0.8% earlier this month.
Growth, excluding oil, was at 0.2% during the three-month period, according to SCI. Details of the center’s report show the “agriculture” sector saw a 5.5% expansion, “industries and mining” grew by 3.7% and “industries and mining sector, excluding oil” expanded by 3.1%. The “services” sector, however, contracted by 1.8% during the third quarter of the current year. “Construction”, which is a subsector of “industries and mining” group, expanded by 8.5%.
The SCI report also showed Iran’s gross domestic product contracted by 1.2% during the nine-month period leading to Dec. 20, 2020 (Q1-3) compared with the corresponding period of the year before.
Economic growth, excluding oil, saw a 1% decline, according to the center, which went on to say the nine-month period saw the “agriculture”, “industries and mining”, and “industries and mining, excluding oil” sectors experienced growth rates of 3%, 0.8% and 2.5% respectively. The services sector contracted by 3.3% and the construction subsector expanded by 3.9%.