Iran says sanctions have made economy more dynamic

TEHRAN,April 23(MNA) - Sanctions against Iran have made the country’s economy more dynamic, Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Shamseddin Hosseini said on Monday. Not only the sanctions have not crippled Iran’s economy, but also they have helped it become more dynamic, he said in an interview with CNN on the sidelines of the 2013 Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, which was held in Washington during April 19-21, the Mehr News Agency quoted Hosseini as saying. Iran, which boasts a GDP of about $500 billion, is able to meet its needs domestically, he noted. According to the International Monetary Fund, Iran's economy should emerge from a recession caused by Western sanctions over its nuclear program, but not until 2014, a year later than previously forecast, Reuters reported. The sanctions have hurt trade and largely frozen Iran out of the international banking system since late 2011; analysts believe the country's oil exports have been roughly halved. But the International Monetary Fund said Iran was avoiding any balance of payments crisis, in a report suggesting sanctions remain far from having the "crippling" effect on the Iranian economy that U.S. leaders have said they intend. The country's gross domestic product is forecast to shrink 1.3 percent this year after contracting 1.9 percent last year, the IMF estimated in a report forming part of its half-yearly analysis of the world economy. At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors. The sanctions, which prevent the EU member states from purchasing Iranian oil or extending insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian crude, came into effect on July 1, 2012. The U.S.-engineered sanctions were imposed based on the accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran rejects the allegation, saying that as a committed signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.