The column ‘Persian Press Review’ features the headlines and leading articles carried by Farsi dailies.

Thursday’s headlines:
IRAN: Supreme Leader calls for rise in number of books’ copies and book readers
EBTEKAR: Names of a number of prominent political figures’ sons are in the list of major debtors to state banks
ASRAR: Extremism goes against the principles of the Islamic Republic, says Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaii
ETTELAAT: We will root out nepotism and cronyism, asserts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
PUL: Expansion of state-owned car factories will make privatization more difficult
TEHRAN-E EMROOZ: Suspension of city councils’ activities is a retrogressive move, says deputy Majlis speaker Mohammad-Reza Bahonar
JAHAN-E SANAAT: Gold price hits record high
DONYA-E EQTESAD: Tehran Stock Exchange’s volatile week
FARHANG-E ASHTI: Rafsanjani criticizes some officials for putting obstacles in the way of Islamic Azad University’s progress
KHORASAN: Iran gives stern warning to Afghanistan about disrespecting Iranian nationals and embassy staff
RESALAT: We are prepared to counter the threat of soft war, says IRGC chief
KAR-O KARGAR: Employers impose everything they wish on employees
Leading articles:
MARDOMSALARI in its editorial has voiced concern over the shortage of funds for implementation of oil and gas projects and called on officials to take appropriate measures in this regard. Iran’s neighbors have scaled up their gas and oil production and unfortunately Iran has fallen behind in the competition due to lack of investment in the energy sector. While countries like Iraq and Qatar have managed to arrange funds for the development of their gas and oil projects, Iran has failed to attract foreign and private investment and its energy sector is now faced with the investment crisis. The writer says if the current trend goes on, Iran will not be able to compete with its regional rivals and will lose its current share in oil and gas market.
PUL in its editorial has warned about the repercussions of the administration’s loan-granting policies in the current Iranian calendar year (which started March 21). The administration has decided to force the state banks to fund state projects while the ratio of savings in banks to granted loans has decreased drastically. In the current year, banks have been forced to lower saving interest rates which have discouraged people to save their money in banks, leading to a sharp decline in bank savings. On the other hand, banks are faced with the issue of outstanding debts and can not collect debts from their major and well-connected clients. So banks are currently faced with the shortage of financial resources and if the administration forces them to give high-risk loans they will be placed in danger of bankruptcy.
DONYA-E EQTESAD in its editorial has commented on the policy of the new British government toward Iran. The new British government is a coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Conservatives typically adopt pragmatic foreign policies and their foreign approach (toward countries like Iran) is a mixture of verbal threat and acting cautiously in practice. On the other hand, the Liberal Democrats even do not use verbal threats and hold that international disputes should be resolved in the international arbitration bodies. The Leader of Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg, who is the deputy prime minister in the coalition government, has recently said that the Iran nuclear issue should be resolved through specialized international bodies. In conclusion, the writer says considering these parties’ backgrounds, it seems that the new British government will take a softer stance toward Iran compared to the Gordon Brown’s.
JAHAN-E SANAAT in its editorial has predicted radical changes in the Central Bank of Iran and described the impending move as an “earthquake”. According to the recent remarks of Mohammad Jahromi, the Bank Saderat’s managing director, another appointment is in the offing in the central bank which is tantamount to a sharp policy shift in the country’s politicized economy. It is said that Jahromi will be appointed as the central bank governor. Jahromi is the person who introduced the failed plan aimed to boost fast-yielding economic enterprise (a plan that forced the state banks to grant low-interest loans to high-risk enterprises), so big policy shifts are expected.