[caption id="attachment_142977" align="alignright" width="158"] Head of the Management and Planning Organization Mohammad Bagher Nobakht[/caption]

TEHRAN March 11(Shana)--Iran is expected to experience a 2.5% economic growth in the new calendar year which starts on March 21, the head of Management and Planning Organization said.

Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht said that the current calendar year saw a 4% economic growth rate in its first half. He added that oil exports grew $42.58 billion during the same period.

Nobakht also said that non-oil exports earned Iran $42.5 billion during the past ten months.

He said Iran has failed to meet the objectives set in the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan, ending in March 2016, mainly due to the fact that the economy contracted for three consecutive years under former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By SHANA