Single forex rate coming soon: Minister

Tehran, Feb 26, IRNA -- Minister of Economy Ali Tayyebnia said that his ministry is resolved to implement a single foreign exchange rate system to speed up the declining trend of the inflation rate. 'Conditions for unifying forex rates should be met to help achieve the predicted growth for the national economy,' Tayyebnia said. He noted that Iran will be able to introduce a single forex rate system as early as the next fiscal year, which starts on March 21, Fars News Agency reported. 'A single forex rate system will be possible only after financial markets witness relative calm,' Tayyebnia underscored. Earlier this month, Government Spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht announced plans to increase economic growth rate to 2 percent in the next fiscal year (March 2015-March 2016). 'You saw a negative economic growth in the last two years, but this year you will witness an economic growth of 2 percent,' Nobakht said while addressing the lawmakers on the budget for the next fiscal year. He also said that the government also expects investment to grow to 4 percent in the next Iranian year. His remarks came after the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its January report, predicted a prosperous economic year for Iran in 2015. In its latest report, the organization outlined the perspective for the Iranian economy in 2015, predicting seven improving infrastructure indicators for the country. The IMF predicted a 2.2 percent real GDP growth for the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2015. According to the purchasing power parities, Iran's gross national product rate is predicted to increase by $53 billion in 2015. Iran's real GDP growth picked up in 2014 with 1.5 percent growth and is expected to grow further by 2.2 percent in 2015, after two years of negative economic growth, the IMF said.