Rouhani unveils budget amid US sanctions pain
Print Edition
Iran鈥檚 President Hassan Rouhani yesterday presented a US$47-billion budget, about a third of it consisting of subsidies for low income groups, saying US sanctions would affect people鈥檚 lives and economic growth but not bring the government to its knees.
US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a multilateral nuclear deal with Iran in May and reimposed sanctions on it, including on its vital oil industry.
鈥淎merica鈥檚 goal is to bring Iran鈥檚 Islamic system to its knees ... and it will fail in this, but sanctions will no doubt affect people鈥檚 lives, and the country鈥檚 development and economic growth,鈥 Rouhani told parliament in a speech carried live on state TV.
He gave the value of the draft budget, excluding the spending of state enterprises, at about 4,700 trillion rials for the next Iranian year, which starts on March 21.
That figure is up from about 3,700 trillion rials he had proposed for this year, but the new budget is effectively worth about half of this year鈥檚 because of the weakening of Iran鈥檚 currency. Under the unofficial exchange rate used on the free market, the budget is worth about US$47 billion.
Rouhani said state employees would get a 20 percent pay rise next year, and the budget included US$14 billion in subsidies to provide cheap basic goods such as food and medicine, up from US$13 billion in this year鈥檚 state budget.
Officials have said the budget is designed to provide for the basic needs of low-income groups, including state staff and pensioners, support production and jobs and seek to relaunch thousands of stalled state projects with the help of private investors.
Rouhani called for trimming the state sector and curbing the government鈥檚 dependence on oil income, which is forecast at 1,425 trillion rials in the proposed budget.
Officials say the budget calculations were based on a forecast crude price of US$50-US$54 per barrel and exports of 1-1.5 million barrels per day, down from a peak of 3 million bpd in mid-2018.
鈥淚f the private sector was active in the country ... and if the budget did not rely heavily on oil, the impact of sanctions would have been much less,鈥 Rouhani said.
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