Protests and gatherings of looted creditors have become a common occurrence in the Iranian economy. From time to time, a group of creditors that have lost their money, or better said have been looted by government officials and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards officers which have captured many parts of the country’s economy in various economic spheres, gather to protest, and this time it is the turn of the stock market.
Iran’s stock market is extremely dependent on the global economy. According to government officials, it has faced a sudden downward trend due to international sanctions. In reality, the government itself has manipulated the statistics and numbers to pull the people to the stock market for investments and finally looting them.
On Wednesday April 21, the Tehran Stock Exchange fell 4,000 units in the first minutes of the week, and this decline continued to 12,527 units, and the total stock index reached 1,207,062, which is not far away from the 1.2 million units from the critical channel limit.
State media reported, “the Tehran Stock Exchange is not happy these days, and its officials are refusing to comment on the market. (State-run website Ghatreh-e-Aval, April 21)
And nothing can control the downward trend of capital market indicators anymore. Following the continuation of this negative trend, a group of small shareholders gathered in front of the Stock Exchange and Securities Organization. These demonstrators have been looted. Because by applying wrong policies such as the distribution of Edalat shares and the government’s ETF, has been unknowingly invited to the stock exchange, and by this way the government brokers have empty their pockets.
Protest rallies have become the mainstay of Iran’s ailing economy. One day, the creditor losers of Samen Al-Hojjaj gather in front of the Central Bank; the next day, the investment losers of the car importing companies gather in front of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade. One day, angry poultry farmers block the Taleghani Street, because of the wrong policies of regulating the agricultural jihad market; the next day, people take to the streets worried about rising gasoline prices.
After the government asked people to invest their capital in the stock market instead of just spending it on the coin and gold market, many came to this market and thereby lost their capital.
Some shareholders gathered in front of the Stock Exchange and Securities Organization. As reported by ILNA, this group of protesters were real and small shareholders who protested the government’s policies during the index decline and the non-fulfillment of promises of support.
In an interview with the state-run daily Shargh, Mehdi Souri, a stock market expert, said: “People were invited from the highest government officials to the stock exchange. It is not customary to invite someone and empty their pockets instead of entertaining them.”
Then, to the question of who invited people to the stock exchange, he answered: “The government and parliament invited them. Everyone who has been a decision-maker in our officials has asked these people to put all their capital in the stock market. Some people were invited, and some people were pushed into the market with non-standard tools such as government ETFs or the Edalat stocks, without knowing where they are stepping into. Even the banking network has directed them to this direction.”
About the situation of Iran’s stock market, he added: “The stock market we are witnessing now in Iran is not a standard financial market, because the first condition of a standard financial market is market liquidity. This means that you can take your money out of that market whenever you want.
“This is the biggest advantage of a standard stock market, but when in our capital market people’s money stays in line for a month and people cannot withdraw their capital, so, it is not a standard market that we can talk about it on an analytical basis.”
About misuse and corruption by officials, he added: “The unprofessional intervention of the officials and the use of incorrect tools have made this market non-standard. From the very beginning, when the Edalat stocks were created and there was talk of government ETFs, we strongly warned that these tools were substandard and could mislead the stock market.”
Then he asked these officials which of course is a hopeless thing in Iran: “We expect the authorities to allow the stock market to follow its standard path. Do not push anyone, do not build a barrier, and do not turn the main road, for which all its tools have been worked in practice in the world for years, into a side detour.”
About the Edalat shares, he said: “The person who distributed the Edalat shares among the people did not estimate how these people would sell this volume of shares. In the world, stocks belong to someone who has extra money. While the Edalat share was given to the weak who have no extra money and need money liquidity.
“I am against social subsidies and charity. If such a thing is to be given, it is possible only through cash. Because with these administrative and economic conditions in the country, any action is prone to corruption and creates problems. The crises that have arisen in the country are due to the fact that we have not made the things right from its roots.”
