World Bank: Iran’s Economy Grows 4.7%

Date: 10 June 2023 - 21:39

News ID: ۱۱۵۹۳۳

TEHRAN -- Iran’s economy grew 4.7 percent, according to the World Bank’s review of the economic growth in the world in the fourth quarter of 2022, which made the country the world’s 15th country with the largest growth.
The bank’s review of the economic growth in 72 countries in the fall of 2022 showed that Iran registered a growth of 5% in the first quarter.
The figure fell by 2.5% in the second quarter of the last year, but rose again in the third quarter to 3.4%.
According to the World Bank, Iran’s economic growth reached 4.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022, which saw the average economic growth in developed economies not surpassing 1.2%.
The World Bank has predicted a 2.2% growth for Iran’s economy in 2023, a figure which is higher than the average growth forecast for the global economy despite the fact that the country is still under sanctions imposed by the United States.
Various international sanctions have limited Iran’s financial resources, and Western sanctions on technology have left Iran’s crucial oil and gas sector in an acute need for overhaul.
On Saturday, Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji said Iran has invested a total of $28.8 billion in its oil industry in past two years despite financial and technical strains.
Owji said $14.5 billion was invested in dozens of unfinished and new projects last year, and $14.3 billion is being invested this year.
The minister said Wednesday Iran is planning to transform the industrial zone of the Persian Gulf coast into a major regional gas hub in coordination with Russia, Qatar, and Turkmenistan.
“[Iran,] with 33 trillion cubic meters of recoverable gas reserves, ranks second in the world in terms of reserves of this resource. We are striving to turn the Persian Gulf and Asaluyeh into a gas hub, with the assistance of Russia, Turkmenistan and Qatar,” Owji said.
Asaluyeh is an Iranian city on the coast of the Persian Gulf, located in the country’s southern Bushehr province. It is home to the Pars Special Energy Economic Zone (PSEEZ), and is the closest land point to the world’s largest gas field, the South Pars field.
The field is under the shared ownership of Iran and Qatar, and is expected to represent a major part of the project announced by Owji.
This follows Iran’s significant boost in energy cooperation with Russia and several other West Asian and Central Asian nations.
Last week, Secretary-General of OPEC+ Haitham al-Ghais told Iranian news outlet SHANA that when sanctions are lifted against the Islamic Republic, Iran will be fully welcomed back into the oil market.
On Tuesday, it was reported that around $24 billion of Iran’s frozen assets would soon be released from Iraq and South Korea, as part of an Omani-mediated effort to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.