COVID-19 loss on Iran’s domestic economy estimated at nearly $26bn: Report
A new analysis shows that the spread of the COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus pandemic, has cost Iran nearly $26 billion in losses suffered in the domestic section of the economy.
A Saturday report by the official IRNA news agency cited figures from a government-affiliated website focused on the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic which showed that total losses inflicted on the Iranian economy excluding foreign trade had exceeded 1,090.25 trillion rials for the period from late February to late December.
The figure amounts to $25.958 billion on the government-mandated exchange rate and is equal to $4.234 billion when calculated on the market price of the US dollar.
Iran has seen one of the largest outbreaks of COVID-19 in the Middle East region with nearly 1.2 million infections and nearly 55,000 deaths recorded in the past 10 months.
The country has been grappling with the double burden of the American sanctions and the economic impacts of closures imposed by the government to curb the spread of the disease.
The analysis covered by IRNA showed that COVID-19 spread had affected nearly three million jobs in Iran while it had led to a 60-percent reduction in demand for services.
It said private manufacturing had declined by 65 percent during the pandemic months while nearly 57 percent of manufacturers and businesses have been grappling with insufficient supply of raw materials because of the pandemic and restrictions related to the disease.
The study estimated that the COVID-19 loss on Iran’s agriculture and food sector had amounted to 110 trillion rials ($440 million), adding that the tourism and hospitality sector had lost nearly 9 trillion rials ($360 million) because of the pandemic.
The highest loss, however, has been recorded in Iran’s health sector where lower revenues for hospitals and laboratories, the increased costs of supplying medical equipment and increased wages had led to nearly 250 trillion rials ($1 billion) in losses for the sector.
The report said that the pandemic-related restrictions on trade had caused a significant decline in Iran’s foreign revenues, adding that the annual value of non-oil exports from the country in the year to late March is expected to decline by more than 27 percent to $30 billion.
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