Financial Tribune � Chronic inflation, which stems from economic imbalances, ruins economic growth, Masoud Nili, a prominent economist and professor of economics at Sharif University of Technology, says.

�Iran�s economy has not fared well in terms of long-run growth, which is a sustained rise in the quantity of goods and services it produces. Chronic inflation is one of the root causes of the Iranian economy�s poor performance,� Nili said in an interview with Donya-e-Eqtesad media group�s video-streaming service EcoIran.

Iran's gross domestic product shrank by 4.9% in the fiscal 2018-19 compared to the year before, the Statistical Center of Iran's latest report shows.

Economic growth, excluding oil production, stood at -2.4%. Production in "industry" and "agriculture" contracted by 9.6% and 1.5% respectively. The "services" group posted a meager 0.02% growth.

Iran�s economy in the fiscal 2014-15 registered a 3% growth after two years of recession when the economy contracted 5.8% and 1.9% back to back, according to the Central Bank of Iran.