Iran sells $2.47b of shares of state-run companies in 3 months

TEHRAN,July 14(MNA) - Iran has transferred over 61.7 trillion rials (about $2.47 billion based on the Tehran Forex Center’s U.S. dollar exchange rate of 24,800 rials) worth of shares of state-run companies to the private sector in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21). The shares were owned by 18 state-run companies, the Privatization Organization of Iran said in a press release. The government has envisioned a large privatization program in the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015), aiming to privatize about 20 percent of state-owned firms each year. Under the present interpretation of Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution, hundreds of state-owned companies have been privatized with some of the shares being earmarked for distribution among ‘deprived’ classes, such as farmers and workers. In a speech in March 2013, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that transferring economic activities to the public will resolve the unemployment problem. “Implementing Article 44 of the Constitution regarding privatization is meant to transfer the economy to the public,” Larijani stated.