TEHRAN Ratification of clear-cut laws and observation of the rules of transparency in economic affairs would lead to elimination of "rent-seeking" in Iranian economy, said economic expert Saeed Leylaz Sunday.

In an interview with the Iran Student News Agency ISNA, Leylaz emphasized that the economic performance of the government should be so clearly explicable that no fears regarding the awareness of the public opinion of the country's economic affairs should exist among the officials.

He said the negative effects of rent-seeking among high ranking religious and political authorities is far more disastrous than their involvement in economic activities.

"Rent-seeking is one of the biggest economic problems of Iran today and that happens when officials take illegal advantage of the country's (limited) possibilities," he said.

Therefore, he added, through the ratification of clear laws, "We can limit the economic activities of political and religious figures."

Referring to the possibility of administrative and economic corruption among top government and economic officials, Leylaz said, "fortunately the level of corruption currently observed among the country's top officials is below the relative level in other fields, so that the economic atmosphere of the country can be regarded as relatively healthy."

He said that all the same, the public sensitivity towards the top officials' involvement in economic affairs is so high that ignoring it can lead to national losses.

Leylaz concluded by evaluating the serious effects of ignoring the rent-seeking phenomenon during the past (twelve) years, on the legitimacy of the system, that has led to high sensitivity of the nation about the matter, as a wound that can not be healed.