A close look at Iran’s foreign exchange earnings provides a clearer picture of the country’s struggling economy.
The total foreign exchange earnings of Iran, encompassing the sale of oil, gas, condensates, petrochemical products, services, and non-oil goods from 1959 to the end of 2021, amounted to $2.223 trillion at nominal prices and $4.421 trillion in terms of purchasing power. This data was reported by the state-run newspaper Jahan Sanat in January 2023.
While the period of the Shah’s dictatorship involved significant corruption and looting, the majority of this income pertains to the era of the mullahs’ rule. From 1979 to the end of 2021, the country’s foreign currency income, at purchasing power prices, was $4.126 trillion.
Currently, the total assets of the government under the mullahs’ regime stand at $200 billion, and the total value of the stock market is $285 billion, combining to a total of $485 billion.
For comparison, consider Norway, a country with a population of 6 million, which is not even among the top 10 oil producers globally. Norway has at least $1.6 trillion in its foreign exchange reserve fund, generating $145 billion annually from investments. Meanwhile, the stock market value of a small country like the UAE is nine times that of Iran’s entire stock market, totaling nearly $2.6 trillion.
Notably, the assets of the world’s top three billionaires exceed those of Iran’s regime, a country with the largest hydrocarbon resources globally. Iran also has at least $1 trillion in approved mining reserves and other substantial natural wealth.
Considering the government’s foreign currency income of $4.126 trillion at purchasing power prices, subtracting the government’s assets leaves $3.641 trillion. There are over 160 countries in the world with budgets less than $100 billion. Iran’s foreign exchange income during the mullahs’ rule exceeds the total budget of all these countries combined.
If this money had been invested in the country, Iran could have become one of the world’s strongest economies. The nation could have been rebuilt multiple times with this amount of money.
However, from the $3.641 trillion in income until 2021, the regime has delivered nothing but poverty and misery to the Iranian people.
The destruction wrought by the regime is so extensive that even doctors and nurses have been driven to suicide.
Over 80% of Iranians live below the poverty line, and tens of millions cannot afford even one meal a day. Iran has become one of the leading countries in the world for emigration.
Instead, the regime has spent the nation’s income and capital for its own benefit, fueling terrorism and war-mongering and engaging in widespread looting.
On June 10, Iran Open Data published a report on the budget for the regime’s so-called “Deprivation Eradication” plan. According to this report, in 2023, at least 17 trillion tomans (approx. $288.1 million) have been allocated to military-economic institutions under the supervision of the regime’s supreme leader in the name of deprivation eradication and economic activity in deprived areas.
This budget for military institutions includes the establishment of deprivation eradication camps by the IRGC and the army, 2.5 trillion tomans (approx. $42.3 million) in aid to jihadist groups for activities in deprived areas, and the free delivery of 2 trillion tomans (approx. $34.3 million) worth of government property to the Basij Sazandegi (Construction Basij).
In addition, economic enterprises under the supervision of the regime’s supreme leader, such as the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, the Alavi Foundation, and the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, receive budgets labeled as employment support with a focus on deprived areas.
In total, the budget allocated for deprivation eradication and disadvantaged areas for institutions directly under the regime’s supreme leader reaches approximately 17 trillion tomans.
This figure stands in stark contrast to the credits allocated for the support and protection of vulnerable groups through other government organizations like the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, the State Welfare Organization of Iran, and provincial governorates.
All this occurs while the institutions under the regime’s supreme leader have access to other non-transparent financial resources, the exact details of which remain unknown.
Source » iranintl