Iran’s economy is on the verge of a complete collapse due to a combination of US sanctions and the rampant corruption of regime officials.
Gas condensate exports near zero
According to the spokesperson of the Iranian Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Association (OPEX), Iran’s export of more than 17 million tons of gas condensates, worth $7 billion, in 2017, has dramatically declined and has reached almost zero.
Gas condensate is a type of expensive, lightweight crude oil produced from specific gas fields.
Iran’s gas condensate production, especially from the South Pars field, is about 650,000 barrels a day, with 400,000 to 450,000 barrels consumed internally. According to customs statistics, Iran’s export of gas condensate had a 45% decline and fell to under 9.5 million tons last year.
OPEX spokesperson, Hamid Hosseini, said that Iran currently produced about 150,000 to 200,000 barrels of surplus condensate gas per day and that nothing was being exported. Unlike oilfields productions, Iran cannot stop the production of gas condensate, because it would also have to stop the production of gas.
Iranians lose 43% of purchasing power
According to the Statistical Center of Iran, the 12-month inflation rate ending in September, reached 42.7%, indicating that the average purchasing power of ordinary Iranians has dropped by 43% over the last 12 months.
Inflation figures announced by the Statistical Center of Iran over the past year are three percent higher than IMF’s prediction.
The Statistical Center of Iran also announced an annual inflation rate of 150% for imported goods.
In March, the IMF predicted that Iran’s economy would shrink by 6% this year, adding that inflation could reach 40%.
On August 23, the President of the Iranian regime, Hassan Rouhani claimed that inflation had dropped and that Iran’s unemployment rate had decreased.
This is while the living conditions and economic welfare of ordinary Iranians is taking a turn for the worse.
The effects of the economic downturn are becoming more and more apparent in all aspects of Iran’s economy. These effects are so tangible, they can no longer be polished, censored or sugar-coated by the likes of Rouhani. The horrifying realities of Iran’s economy are now acknowledged by most regime officials in their speeches in the parliament and state-run media.
Corruption
Iran’s economy is marred by an abundance of corruption, embezzlement, high prices and a collapse in the value of Iran’s currency. The majority of Iran’s economy, regardless of its size and capacity, is in the control of Iran’s Supreme Leader, the all-powerful Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) through their affiliated companies.
According to the US Embassy in Baghdad, Khamenei owns assets worth an estimated $200 billion.
Therefore, the livelihood of ordinary Iranians is directly tied and at the service of Khamenei and the IRGC’s monopoly.
Add the constant export of capital from Iran by regime elites and the printing of unsecured currency by the regime to the mix and you get the makings of a complete economic collapse.
Source » irannewswire