Was it a win or a loss? Checking Rouhani's midterm economic scorecard
Halfway into his term Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has done well in terms of fulfilling his economic promises — but much remains to be done.
Halfway into his term, it is time to evaluate the performance of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s economic policies. This is particularly relevant since the economy has consistently been highlighted in Rouhani’s discourse over the past two years.
Economic growth
One of the government’s key achievements has been the reversal of the country’s economic decline and the reintroduction of an acceptable growth of the gross domestic product, which will be close to 4% this year. Indeed, the World Bank estimates that the Iranian economy will grow by 5% in 2016. This is far from what Iran requires — 8% real annual growth is needed just to keep unemployment where it is — but, nonetheless, an important shift. Considering that Iran experienced a 5.8% economic decline in the year ending March 20, 2013, it is a major achievement to have returned to a growth scenario. Experts now agree that the pace of growth will accelerate once sanctions are lifted in the course of 2016.
Inflation and the rial
