Poll: 87% of investors have no ‘clear picture’ of Iranian economy’s future

An opinion poll finds that a majority of investors in Iran do not have a “clear” picture of the country’s future, given the economic woes facing the Islamic Republic, saying they are now “walking the razor’s edge.”

The poll was conducted by the Iranian Donya-e Eqtesad (World of Economy) daily based on interviews with 40 great economic actors in Iran, during which 12 questions were asked about the future of investment in the country.

Based on the results, 87 percent of the investors have “no transparent picture of the future” and are thus dragging feet on injecting their assets into the market.

Asked about the reason, they blamed “instability” in the Iranian economy for their doubts.

Half of the respondents said they were mulling over taking their assets abroad, while another group said they had already done so.

More than half of the interviewees also said their employment had undergone “uncontrollable changes” in Iran.

Over two thirds also said they were forced to shelf their economic development projects in the face of the economic challenges facing the country.

Economic issues in Iran are widely attributed to both the sanctions imposed on the country by the US and the West and government mismanagement.

Regardless of the severe economic pressure being exerted by the West on the country, Iran has, over the past months, taken significant steps toward increasing its trade relations with regional nations as part of its neighbors-first agenda.

On Wednesday, Ruhollah Latifi, the spokesperson of Iran’s customs administration said, over 33 tons of goods worth 20.6 billion dollars had been exchanged between Iran and its neighbors during the past five months, showing a 24-percent rise compared to the same period last year.

He said non-oil trade with 15 neighboring countries accounted for 57 percent of the weight and 48 percent of the value of our country’s foreign trade.

Meanwhile, according to figures released by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Iran’s economy witnessed a growth of 4.1 percent in 2021, up from 3.4 percent a year earlier.

The World Bank has also estimated that Iran’s inflation rate would fall from 40.1 to 37.6 percent this year and 34.8 percent next year.

IFP Editorial Staff

The IFP Editorial Staff is composed of dozens of skilled journalists, news-writers, and analysts whose works are edited and published by experienced editors specialized in Iran News. The editor of each IFP Service is responsible for the report published by the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website, and can be contacted through the ways mentioned in the "IFP Editorial Staff" section.