Financial Tribune - Iran's ranking has improved across several indices in World Bank Doing Business reports in recent years because the country has increased its data-sharing with the bank, which had previously been flawed, announced the research arm of the parliament.

"A review of WB reports during 2014-17 indicates that during this period, only three improvements have been registered for Iran in the Doing Business reports, with the main reason behind the ranking upgrade being the correction of data provided by Iran," Majlis Research Center was cited as reporting by Banker.ir.

WB's Doing Business 2017 for the Middle East and North Africa, published days ago, said Iran has made exporting and importing easier by expanding the services offered by the national single window, acknowledging the fact that the country has taken strides to improve its status when it comes to "trading across borders".

The research center said as per the request of the parliament, it conducted an investigation in 2014, which showed that 70-80 lawyers, judges, attorneys, engineers and traders trusted by the WB to provide them with information about Iran's business climate had made drastic mistakes in completing WB's questionnaires across all 10 sectors.

When confronted, they admitted to their mistakes, notes the parliamentary entity, adding that "if correct information was sent to the WB, Iran's ranking should have been around 80 instead of 152" at the time.

It further said Iran's improved rankings in the years leading to the latest report in 2017 have been "because of corrected information and not a real improvement in the state of doing business in the country".

The research center points out that Iran's ranking in ease of doing business has declined from 117 to 120, calling it the result of a "relative worsening" of Iran's condition that calls for meaningful reforms in this area.