Iran president meets economic critics

TEHRAN – Iran’s president has met some 50 economists to defend his economic management after they publicly criticised his policies for failing to hit growth targets and fuelling inflation, Iranian media reported on Friday.

A group of 57 economists wrote an open letter in June criticising President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government for its handling of the economy and said its policies were undermining the stated goal of sharing out oil wealth more justly. Based on official figures, Iran’s inflation is now running above 16 per cent and economic growth is hovering at a little more than five per cent, roughly two percentage points below long-term planning targets.Thursday’s five-hour meeting focused on why growth had missed targets in the Opec country despite surging oil prices, the increase in the state budget and monetary policies, Hossein Abdeh-Tabrizi, one of the economists and a former head of the stock exchange, told Iran’s IRNA news agency.Ahmadinejad urged the economists to come up with ways to use “oil dollars on development and public welfare” without boosting inflation or liquidity, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Mohammad Jahromi said, according to Fars News Agency.Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil exporter, has been benefiting from windfall oil earnings as crude prices have surged and are now hovering around record levels.”The government’s performance should be compared with …previous governments and not with ideals and wishes,” state TV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.Some of the economists described the meeting as “proper and useful” and said it was a good step by the government, Iranian news agencies said.The agencies said further details were expected to emerge at a later date.Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005 pledging to share out Iran’s oil wealth more fairly but lawmakers, the press and ordinary Iranians have grumbled increasingly loudly about rising prices and other economic problems.The government defends its economic handling and says, for example, that problems such as inflation have beset previous governments but that it is controlling price rises.It has also accused the media of exaggerating economic problems.The United Nations has slapped sanctions on Iran, including targeting a big state bank, for not reining in a nuclear programme which the West says is to build weapons.Although narrowly focused, analysts say the steps are deterring foreign and local investors.The UN Security Council is considering a new round of measures.But Iran says it will not give up the work which it insists is legal and which it says has purely civilian aims.Nampa-ReutersBased on official figures, Iran’s inflation is now running above 16 per cent and economic growth is hovering at a little more than five per cent, roughly two percentage points below long-term planning targets.Thursday’s five-hour meeting focused on why growth had missed targets in the Opec country despite surging oil prices, the increase in the state budget and monetary policies, Hossein Abdeh-Tabrizi, one of the economists and a former head of the stock exchange, told Iran’s IRNA news agency.Ahmadinejad urged the economists to come up with ways to use “oil dollars on development and public welfare” without boosting inflation or liquidity, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Mohammad Jahromi said, according to Fars News Agency.Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil exporter, has been benefiting from windfall oil earnings as crude prices have surged and are now hovering around record levels.”The government’s performance should be compared with …previous governments and not with ideals and wishes,” state TV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.Some of the economists described the meeting as “proper and useful” and said it was a good step by the government, Iranian news agencies said.The agencies said further details were expected to emerge at a later date.Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005 pledging to share out Iran’s oil wealth more fairly but lawmakers, the press and ordinary Iranians have grumbled increasingly loudly about rising prices and other economic problems.The government defends its economic handling and says, for example, that problems such as inflation have beset previous governments but that it is controlling price rises.It has also accused the media of exaggerating economic problems.The United Nations has slapped sanctions on Iran, including targeting a big state bank, for not reining in a nuclear programme which the West says is to build weapons.Although narrowly focused, analysts say the steps are deterring foreign and local investors.The UN Security Council is considering a new round of measures.But Iran says it will not give up the work which it insists is legal and which it says has purely civilian aims.Nampa-Reuters