Page 27 - IRANRptAug21

era],” he said, as reported by Iran’s official energy news agency SHANA. Foreign investors that arrived in Iran for a second time would find a country that has managed to indigenise much of what companies from abroad were bringing to Iran, Zanganeh said.
"Sanctions are mortal and will be gone, but we will not give up on the capacities we have created and we will organise and strengthen them," he added.
Taking oil as an example, Zanganeh also said: “Today's capacity to sell oil, transfer oil and receive oil money is in no way comparable to what was the case back in March 2018 and the beginning of the sanctions. We will not allow these capacities to be lost. We are organising these capacities.”
6.0 Public Sector 6.1 Budget
Iran’s budget for next Persian year ‘could be based on oil price of $40’
Iran’s draft budget skips parliamentary scrutiny as coronavirus means legislature cannot be convened
Iran’s budget for the next Persian year (starts March 21, 2021) could be based on an oil price of $40 a barrel, according to government spokesman Ali Rabiei.
“The revenue sources for the next year’s budget are not finalised yet by the government ... Our primary forecast for now is oil at $40 [a barrel],” Rabiei said in remarks on an official website, relayed by Reuters.
He added that the budget assumptions were not final as yet.
The extent of Iran’s oil sales on the grey market—Iran has to operate under the radar as the Donald Trump administration pursues its policy of using sanctions in an effort to drive Iranian crude off world markets—is a matter of conjecture. However, there is the prospect of US President-elect Joe Biden striking a new political deal with Tehran that would remove heavy US sanctions. Such an agreement is by no means guaranteed as things stand, but if it was achieved it could open the way for Iran to build up oil export sales to as high as 2mn b/d within around two years.
Traditional parliamentary scrutiny in Iran of the country’s draft state budget has been skipped in favour of sending it straight to the Guardian Council for approval given that 23 MPs have fallen ill with the coronavirus, the Financial Tribune daily has reported.
Asadollah Abbasi, spokesman for the presiding board of the parliament, reportedly explained that the virus outbreak meant that, as per Article 85 of the Iranian Constitution, the draft budget for the 2020/2021 Persian calendar year (which commences on March 20) should be moved on to the executive body once it became clear the legislature could not be convened.
The 12-member Guardian Council—made up of Islamic Law experts selected by the supreme leader of Iran and six jurists selected by the parliament from among jurists proposed by the head of the Judiciary—has 20 days to review the budget bill from March 3, according to Abbasali Kadkhodaei, its spokesman.
The draft budget as it stands does not take into account the loss of income to the state from the closure of businesses in the country caused by the
27 IRAN Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com