Iran: IMF report highlights Tehran’s economic challenges

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a downbeat assessment of Iran’s economy and urged wide-ranging reforms, following a visit to Iran earlier this year. A full report is due to be published in late March, but the fund’s interim review talked of “large shocks and weak macroeconomic management” in recent years. The IMF predicts the Iranian economy will shrink by 1%-2% in the current financial year, which ends on 20 March. It also points out that unemployment and inflation are high and some ambitious social programmes are “inadequately funded”.