Iran's Macroeconomic Performance and Economic Liberalisation: 1990–2000

Abstract

This article discusses the performance of the economy during the 1990s. Iran had to deal with restoring and sustaining economic growth; bringing about an increase in per capita income in spite of rapid population growth; expanding employment opportunities and promoting price stability. In the long-run, there was a need to change the nature of the economy and diversify away from heavy reliance on oil. In response to these challenges, the government launched an economic liberalisation programme. However, this article argues that the economic liberalisation plan could not overcome the internal and external imbalances that the economy was afflicted with. During the 1990s, inflation intensified and government foreign debt rose to high levels; and the main features of the Iranian economy such as oil and import dependency remained more or less unaffected. Thus, the measures adopted by the government were only able to partially correct the effects of macro imbalances.