Iranian Parliament’s research centre has announced that a survey of 98 economic organizations from across the country reveals that production at these organizations has fallen by 40 percent in the past year.

The 40-percent drop is accompanied by a 36-percent increase in job losses in the same period.

The report adds that the prices of produced goods have risen by 87.9 percent, while the cost of primary materials has jumped by 112.1 percent.

The report adds that in the past year, 50 production facilities have been established and 566 have shut down.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defended his administration’s economic policies, claiming that Iran’s economy grew by 5.2 percent in the past year, and he put the inflation rate at 21.6 percent.

Contrary to Ahmadinejad’s statements, the International Monetary Fund has pegged Iran’s economic growth for the past year at 2 percent and for the coming year at -0.9 percent.

Recent reports by Iran’s Central Bank have put the inflation rate at 24.9 percent.

A number of Iranian MPs have criticized the president for using erroneous statistics in his statements and have spoken out against his failure to deliver the subsidy allotments to production units in the past year.

Source: Radio Zamaneh