Iran exports, oil earnings hit by world crisis

Iran is being hurt by the financial crisis because of falling oil prices and a world downturn that will damage non-oil exports, an official said on Sunday, even though Iran’s economy was relatively isolated.

Iranian officials are voicing more concern about the impact of the international financial turmoil after initially brushing off the impact on Iran, which has an economy that has become increasingly isolated because of US and UN sanctions.



Many Western banks have scaled back or cut dealings with Iran because of sanctions imposed over Iran’s disputed nuclear work. But the world’s fourth-largest oil producer has watched crude prices tumble and now expects to see other exports hurt.

“Even though the Iranian economy is to some extent less tied in to the world economy, the first impact (of the crisis) on the Iranian economy is a drop in the oil price,” Kamal Seyyed Ali, head of Iran’s export guarantee fund, said.

Arabian Business