Page 21 - IRANRptJul18

6.0 Public Sector 6.1 Budget
Iranian MPs waste no time in rejecting 2018/2019 budget
Draft budget with restrained public spending handed to Iranian parliament
Iranian MPs have rejected the draft budget framework for the 2018/2019 Persian year at the first hurdle, an Iran Front Page (IFP) report said on January 28.
Several problems with the draft were apparently identified by parliamentarians but media were yet to discover what those were exactly. In terms of public spending the draft is quite austere and there is some discussion among analysts as to whether, given the nationwide protests seen a month ago which were largely blamed on mounting economic hardship , the Rouhani administration might be under some pressure to be more generous. That would be despite the economic uncertainty Iran faces as a result of the precarious fate of the nuclear deal in the face of the attack on the accord made by the Trump administration.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on December 10 proposed to parliament a conservative state budget of around 3,681 trillion rials ($103.9bn at the official exchange rate) for non-state enterprise expenditures. The budget is to cover the next Persian year (starting next March 21).
Rouhani’s draft budget for non-state enterprise expenditures is up 6% on the current year’s budget but has been tabled with inflation running at almost 10%. The proposed budget in its entirety amounts to 11,929 trillion rials ($337bn).
Rouhani said in a speech carried live by state TV that the budget would help the country work towards full employment, eliminate poverty and deliver social justice. It must also address a building Iranian banking crisis.
The draft budget also includes provisions for bringing all poor families to a minimum standard of living through a new social security programme. On the other hand, it should see some 30 million Iranians cut from a basic welfare provision introduced under the former Ahmadinejad administration.
The draft budget assumes an oil price of around $55 per barrel, whereas for the current budget approximately $50 was assumed. Another aspect of the draft budget is a requirement to be placed on all ministries and government offices to release public reports on their overall spending to improve transparency.
21 IRAN Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com