The share of electronic commerce (e-commerce) in Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) has more than doubled over the past two years, says the country’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Farhad Dejpsand.
Dejpassand said that the share of GDP in Iran’s GDP had grown by 2.04% in the two years to late March 2021, adding that the growth had taken place from a low base.
Dejpassand said Iran has benefitted significantly from the growth in its digital economy as he insisted that a major increase in government tax revenues in recent years was mainly a result of the increased use of modern technologies in tax collection schemes.
The minister also highlighted the fact that increased popularity of cryptocurrencies in Iran had helped the government get round US sanctions that effectively bars the country from accessing international banking services.
Iran has imposed a ban on trading of cryptocurrencies although importers are allowed to use them to settle payments to foreign suppliers.
Iranian energy ministry has also intensified a crackdown on illegal mining of cryprocurrencies in recent weeks amid brief power cuts in large cities.
However, Dejpassand recommended the government should adopt a better policy in dealing with cryptocurrencies, saying the use of blockchain technology would increase in the Iranian economy in the near future.
“Blockchain would be responsible for 10 percent of the added value in the country within the next four years and we should not ignore this trend or adopt a passive approach toward it,” he said.
The minister said that even the Americans had admitted that Iran has made a success out of using cryptocurrencies to circumvent the US sanctions.