On Nov. 26, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appeared on live television to present a progress report on his government’s performance in its first 100 days in office. Evidently, the president was content that the Geneva agreement had been signed, drawing a road map for the resolution of the nuclear file. In fact, the country’s business community and economic commentators had reacted positively to the Geneva deal — a fact that was underlined in the appreciation of the Iranian rial on the free market.

Nonetheless, it seemed that Rouhani had decided to use the televised interview to present the depth of the economic crisis that the country was facing. The most significant economic passages of the president’s communication include:

Challenges faced when his government took office:

• The critically low level of stockpiles of essential foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals.
• The government’s enormous debt to banks, subcontractors and pension funds (2,000 trillion rials or $80 billion).
• Commitments emerging from the previous government’s provincial trips amounting to 2,110 trillion rials or more than $84 billion.
• Commitments emerging from unfinished projects that the previous government had started totaling 4,000 trillion rials, equivalent to $160 billion.

Phenomena that contributed to high inflation: