Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.28
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Investments in Iran's industry sector contracted by 41 percent in the last Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2013, the Mehr News Agency quoted Iranian president's advisor Masoud Nili as saying on Jan.28.
He added that the main problem of the national economy is inflationary recession.
He also referred to unemployment as the major challenge facing the economy in the mid-term and long-term.
On September 30, 2013, the Persian language daily, Etemad, referred to report No. 70 of the Central Bank and called the national economic situation 'worrying'. Bank statistics show a sharp fall in the industrial growth rate, the daily added.
According to the report, the industrial growth rate was a little over 10 per cent in autumn 2010. It plunged to minus 0.6 per cent in autumn 2011 and plummeted to minus 13.7 per cent in autumn 2012.
The construction sector's growth rate also fell sharply from minus 14 per cent in autumn 2011 to minus 25.5 per cent in autumn 2012.
The service sector has experienced the same situation. Just the agriculture sector has remained nearly stable between 2010 and 2012.
The Central Bank's report indicates that the economic growth rate in the third quarters of 1391 was a little below minus 6 percent and the average rate during the first nine months of the year was minus 5.4 per cent including the oil sector and minus 2.4 per cent excluding the oil sector.