[Financial Times-UK] Najmeh Bozorgmehr - Markets in Iran are now saturated year-round with Chinese pears, Pakistani tangerines, French apples and Chilean pomegranates. All this abundance comes at a cost. Iranian farmers say the government has wasted windfall oil earnings and stoked an import-led boom rather than encouraging domestic food producers. Local media have reported that Iranian cattle farmers are facing bankruptcy because of imports of cheap red meat and dried milk at rates less than half local prices. Rice growers in the Caspian region say they cannot compete with cheap imports from Pakistan. The agricultural trade balance came in at a record deficit of about $9 billion for the last Iranian year. The figure was $45 million when Ahmadinejad took power about four years ago.
2009-05-13 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive