President-elect Hassan Rouhanisaid Sunday thatthe government should avoid a planned economy, instead bringing in economic experts to manage the situation.
Rouhani made his comments in a meeting with senior figures from the Iranian Chamber of Commerce at the Expediency Councils Strategic Research Center. He later tweeted the key message from his Persian-language Twitter account: #?????????? ???? ???? ? ?????????? ???? ???? ? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ??? ? ???? ???? ?????? ??????? ???? ???????? ?????? ?? ?? ??? ??????.
The economy devastated by years of mismanagement and increasingly harsh Western sanctions will be Rouhanis biggest challenge. The President-elects comments came a day after the Central Bankhalved the national currencys official rateagainst the dollar, in another attempt to shore up the economy.
Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had a different message: Irans economy is stronger and able to deal with fluctuations more effectively.
The outgoing Presidentsaid in a televised interviewthat his administration would leave a gift to Rouhani Irans foreign reserves, which he claimed are over $100 billion.