Former Iranian Finance Minister Shamseddin Hosseini: Our Economy Has Been Shrinking and Our Inflation Rate Has Been Increasing – We Are in Recession

Former Iranian Finance Minister Shamseddin Hosseini said in an April 13, 2020 interview on Channel 4 (Iran) that in 2018 and 2019, Iran's economy shrank by 5% and 7% respectively, that the inflation rate in 2019 was 30%, that this year's inflation rate is 40%, and that Iran is experiencing an "inflationary recession."

Shamseddin Hosseini: "The most prominent and well-known measures of economic prosperity that are still in use today are Gross National Income and economic growth. In 2018, we had a negative growth of five percent..."

Interviewer: "That's a big number."

Hosseini: "Yes, it is. In 2019, it was negative [growth] of seven percent. From an economic perspective, we had two consecutive [years] of negative growth. In addition, we need to look at another item - the inflation. Last year, we had an inflation rate of 30% and this year it is roughly 40%."

Interviewer: "So we are experiencing an inflationary recession?"

Hosseini: "Absolutely."