TEHRAN, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran will allocate 5.3 billion U.S. dollars to tackle employment in the country, Financial Tribune daily reported on Saturday.
The Central Bank of Iran in an agreement with the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare is considering the plan to deal with the unemployment rate which recently hits 12.6 percent.
Iranian Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, Ali Rabiei, said that, out of the fund, 26 million U.S. dollars would be allocated for job creation in the first three months of the scheme, and 105 million U.S. dollars will be extended to vocational training.
A portion of 26 million U.S. dollars will also be allocated in the form of cash subsidies, Rabiei was quoted as saying.
In the meantime, the government should address many of the production concerns including "technology, marketing, sales and raw materials," which is also instrumental to deal with the unemployment issue, he said.
It was announced here on Wednesday that Iran's unemployment rate in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, started March 21, 2017, stood at 12.6 percent, a 0.4-percent rise compared with the same period of past year.
The figure also showed a 0.1-percent increase compared with the previous quarter.
Total unemployment people, among Iranians aged 10 and above, were 3.36 million, including 2.25 million men and 1.11 million women.
According to the daily, the unemployment rate was 14.4 percent for urban areas and 7.8 percent for rural areas.
Iran's unemployment rate in the last fiscal year, ended March 20, stood at 12.4 percent, registering a 1.4-percent rise from the previous year.
High unemployment rate is among the gravest challenges for the re-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's economic team.
