Gasoline consumption has increased significantly in Iran with the minimum per capita daily consumption standing at one liter.

TEHRAN, Aug. 18--The government has ordered the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to continue importing gasoline until the parliament reaches a final decision on the controversial issue.
Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, told Fars news agency that the country does not currently face gasoline shortage.
“The government has authorized the NIOC to import petrol temporarily,“ he said, adding that the permit will remain valid until the fate of the gasoline budget and other relevant issues is known.
He said that public demand for fuel cannot be ignored merely due to uncertainties surrounding the petrol issue, stressing that import of gasoline will continue under the circumstances.
He said the company will distribute fuel imported by the NIOC, adding that the country needs to import 30 million liters of gasoline a day.
“We will do everything possible to make the required gasoline available,“ he said.
Iran has one of the world’s highest gasoline consumption growths and lowest petrol prices.
Some 40 million liters per day of gasoline is produced in Iran for seven million cars and 7-8 million motorcycles. Demand stands at 70 million liters a day.
The government has reportedly decided to ration fuel by distributing gasoline smart cards.
The high-profile fuel smart card project has reportedly progressed by 80-90 percent in the first phase. The second phase will also be completed within six months after the full implementation of the first phase.
Earlier this month, Oil Minister Seyyed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh told reporters that gasoline consumption has increased significantly in Iran with the minimum per capita daily consumption standing at one liter.
“This (high gasoline consumption) is unmatched in the world,“ he said, adding that excessive gasoline consumption has become routine in a country where the government is also unwilling to exert pressure on the people to economize on fuel.

TEHRAN, Aug. 18--A top economic official said here on Friday that during the recent visit to Beijing of an Iranian delegation, China agreed to extend a $10-billion credit line to Iranian banks.
Mohammad Khazaei, who heads Iran’s Investment and Technical and Economic Assistance Organization, told Fars news agency that the groundbreaking initiative will be taken within the next two months.
He said the delegation visited a number of major businesses in China and exchanged views with senior trade authorities of one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
The official further noted that during the visit, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Iranian and Chinese commerce ministries on setting up a joint investment committee.
He said the Iranian team also followed up issues related to China’s financial contributions to the giant Tehran-Shomal Highway project, which will traverse the thick north Iran forests to connect the capital, Tehran, to tourist resorts in the Caspian coast.
“We also held negotiations with China’s telecoms giant ZTE on investments in mobile phone manufacturing projects in Iran,“ he said, without elaborating on whether the Chinese firm was eager to join the initiative, or not.
Khazaei said the group also received information on mechanisms employed by China to lower unemployment rate, render better social security services and encourage foreign investments.
The delegation visited China late last month.
Chinese Ambassador to Tehran Lio G. Tan said earlier that his country is keen on expanding economic cooperation with Iran, expressing hope that Beijing will become one of Iran’s largest oil and gas customers in the near future.
Acknowledging that some Chinese factories produce substandard goods, the envoy, however, stressed that Iranian merchants are also interested in purchasing such inexpensive commodities.
He called for joint cooperation in the field of quality control in order to prevent import into Iran of low-quality Chinese goods.
Tehran-Beijing trade exchanges grew by 50 percent in 2005--a record in the last 15 years. Iran-China trade was valued at $10 billion in 2005.
Experts say the figure would reach $13 billion by the end of Iran’s Fourth Five-Year Development Plan (2005-2010).

A Samand assembly line was launched in Minsk recently following the start of production in Azerbaijan Republic on May 31.

TEHRAN, Aug. 18--Visiting Bolivian minister of economic development said here on Friday that the Latin American country would be a favorable market for Samand sedans.
According to ISNA, Celinda Sosa further said during her visit to Iran Khodro at the head of a senior business delegation that Bolivia is willing to purchase the Iranian Samand cars which will be produced in Venezuela.
“Bolivia and Venezuela are two major Latin American countries with extensive cooperation in all fields, including industries and business,“ she said, adding that Bolivia will welcome investments by Iran Khodro in that country.
Aref Norouzi, deputy head of Iran Khodro, said, for his part, that the company is planning to export Samand cars to be produced in Venezuela to other Latin American countries.
The Middle East’s largest carmaker Iran Khodro is planning to expand the international market for Samand by setting up assembly lines in the four corners of the globe. It has signed a contract with Venezuela on the construction of a giant car assembly plant in the Latin American country to manufacture the Samand.
A Samand assembly line was launched in Minsk recently following the start of production in Azerbaijan Republic on May 31.
Iran Khodro announced earlier that the national car will also be produced in the former Soviet republics of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and some East European states.
It said last month that there are plans to export Samand to Vietnam and Bangladesh making it the first Iranian car to hit markets in Asia and the Pacific. Right-hand drive Samand models will be manufactured from 2008.

TEHRAN, Aug. 18--Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Davood Danesh-Jafari said here on Friday that the government’s revenues and tax-related issues are satisfactory.
He told ISNA that inflation rate is under control despite the increase in prices of iron and construction materials.
He said the government’s top priority is to give the private and cooperative sector a new lease on life.
The minister said the government needs to bring changes in the country’s economic structures.
Danesh-Jafari further noted that some of the issues raised by 50 prominent economic experts in their controversial letter to the president were untrue, adding that the letter was made public only eight months after the Ninth Government took office.
“The (government’s) overall economic performance cannot be judged on the basis of what the government has done in eight months,“ he said, adding that some of the issues raised by the economist were related to the country’s economic structures, which did not concern the Ninth Government alone.
Danesh-Jafari declined to answer a question about whether the government’s economic ministers would change following a study of their performance.
The minister rejected unofficial reports that he has been appointed as the government’s economic spokesman, adding, however, that he will announce economic policies and will answer relevant questions.

TEHRAN, Aug. 18--The 8th Iran-Kyrgyzstan Economic Cooperation Commission meeting chaired by Iran’s Commerce Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi and Kyrgyz minister of economic affairs, Jabarov began here on Thursday, reported ISNA.
Quoting a report by Iran’s Trade Development Organization, it said that the meeting is likely to lead to an agreement on economic cooperation which is expected to be signed on August 22.
At the meeting, the two sides also discussed an agreement on preferential trade, which is expected to help Iranian products enter Kyrgyzstan market.
Both sides are expected to sign several other cooperation agreements, based on which Iran will make investment in the former Soviet republic’s agriculture sector, export cars and engineering and technical services as well as participate in construction, mining, tourism, cultural and educational projects.
Trade between Iran and Kyrgyzstan stands at $40 million a year.
Iran is planning to hold a trade exhibition in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital from August 31 to September 4.
Several Iranian contracting firms are already operating in Kyrgyzstan and many more are ready to participate in that country’s dam-building, bridge and road construction projects.
Meanwhile, IRNA reported from Bishkek that Iranian companies have expressed readiness to take part in an exhibition sponsored by the Governor General’s Office of the northwestern Iranian province of Qazvin.
Foodstuff, cloths, shoes, home appliances, automobile spare parts and rugs are among the goods that will be exhibited in the Kyrgyz fair.

According to CBI figures, inflation rate stands at 10.4 percent.

TEHRAN, Aug. 18--A former economic official said here on Friday that figures released by the Central Bank of Iran on the inflation are accurate, stressing that prices of 300 items of goods and services are usually studied in the process of determining the key rate.
Saeid Shirkavand, a former deputy minister of economic affairs and finance, told Fars news agency that the people pay attention only to the hikes in the prices of certain goods that they regularly buy, which is why they might question the authenticity of the inflation rate announced by the central bank.
He said the CBI figures cannot be questioned easily as they truly reflect the economic situation.
“The recent economic recession has caused prices of certain goods to come down,“ he said, adding that only a section of the essential commodities has seen a huge rise in prices.
According to CBI figures, inflation rate stands at 10.4 percent.
The bank has drawn up a bill on issuing participation bonds worth 20 trillion rials in a bid to reduce inflation and liquidity rates.
The government is also planning to employ new mechanisms to bring down prices.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance has said the inflation rate would fall to a single digit by next March.

TEHRAN, Aug. 18--Some 28 airports will become operational in the coming weeks, said a senior aviation industry official here Friday.
Gholamreza Bakhshi-Zadeh, a member of the State Airports Company’s board of directors, said the projects have been implemented at a cost of 1.3 trillion rials.
He told Fars news agency that the government is striving to complete unfinished developmental projects by March, adding that most of these projects pertain to airport development and completion.
He said Tabriz, Ahvaz, Yazd and Zahedan airports will be covered by the giant project, which will also address the technical problems in Bandar Lengeh, Ardebil, Mashhad and Isfahan airports.
Other projects to become operational soon include the development of Sanandaj, Khorramabad and Zahedan airports.

MORONI, Comoros, Aug. 18--Iran said on Thursday it will give Comoros three industrial fishing boats and consider other aid for that country’s fishing and agricultural sectors.
Iranian support comes weeks after a Sudanese delegation was sent to the Indian Ocean Archipelago to discuss possible treaties on fishing and farming, Reuters reported.
President Ahmed Abdullah Mohamed Sambi won elections in May that were the Comoros’ first peaceful change of power since independence in 1975.
“Three large industrial fishing boats will be delivered to the Comorian government,“ Iran’s Agriculture Minister Mohammad Reza Eskandari said on the second day of a three-day visit at the head of a 40-strong delegation.
A second Iranian delegation is expected to arrive in the next few days to finalize details of other fishing and agricultural support, said Eskandari.