Chart of the week: Iran’s 'sanctions-subsidised' bubble
Despite GDP shrinking by 5.4% in the last year, Iran's stockmarket is soaring as international sanctions and high inflation boost the nominal price of stocks.
Due to Western sanctions against Iran, local money can't be invested overseas and thus has nowhere else to go. High inflation also makes the index look healthier than it really is, boosting the nominal price of stocks although their real value hasn't risen.
Tehran's market is in a "sanctions-subsidised bubble", says Paul Sullivan of America's National Defense University.
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