TEHRAN - Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Farhad Dejpasand said despite the great demand for anti-corona medical items in the early days of the pandemic, Iran has become an exporter of such products.

Speaking in the 95th government-private sector dialogue meeting on Tuesday, Dejpasand noted that this is a clear indication of the potentials and capabilities of the Iranian producers which should not be overlooked.

He also mentioned the negative impacts of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy as well as on Iran and noted that oil revenues of many oil-producing countries including Iran have fallen due to declining demand followed by the coronavirus outbreak, however, Iran is more resilient than the other countries since due to several years of sanctions, the country’s reliance on oil sales has declined significantly.

“We do not feel much of the effects of coronavirus on oil sales, and we are prepared to manage this,” Dejpasand said.

He also referred to the private sector’s worries over the government’s new strategies for compensating the budget deficits resulted from the fall in oil revenues and said, “Some might worry that the government might increase the taxes to offset its budget deficits resulted from the pandemic, but our approach is not to use tax instruments and pressure on production units to realize our resources.”

The government plans to resolve its budget issues by reducing expenditures and using other ways like Islamic bonds and taping on the capacities of the capital market, he stressed.

Elsewhere in the meeting, Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, the head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA), mentioned the single-window business system, saying that launching this system would be a great step toward improving the business environment in the country.

During a ceremony on May 30, Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) launched the single-window business system.

Shafeie also called for the implementation of a unified and coordinated management system at the country's borders, saying: "Unfortunately, this problem has existed for years and we have not been able to solve it; each of the bodies such as standard, health, customs, quarantine, law enforcement, etc., work on their own and in an uncoordinated manner, which wastes traders' time and money.”

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Photo: Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Farhad Dejpasand