Page 34 - IRANRptJun22

Iran’s 2022-23 state budget ‘expected to bear deficit of around 3,000 trillion rial’
Iran’s budget deficit at 9.5% in 2020
not-too-distant future, one way or another.
"The growth projects include 4.5% in investment growth and 3.5% in productivity growth," Raisi told parliament, state media reported.
With US sanctions still in place in an effort at keeping Iranian oil of world markets, Iran has been relying on China turning a blind eye to American demands to import substantial amounts of Iran’s crude on the grey market.
State media reported that the nominally balanced draft budget amounted to 15,052 trillion rials ($50.2bn at the free market exchange rate). The new budget is about 10% bigger than the current budget in local currency terms. However, its value in real terms is lower due to annual inflation running at more than 40%.
Raisi told MPs: "A requirement for economic stability is ensuring a budget that does not have a deficit. If there is a budget deficit, this will become the root of many problems in the country."
"In the... budget, borrowing from the central bank and increasing the monetary base are a red line. The plan is to prevent this, because it will create serious problems for the country's economy," he added.
Iran’s 2022-23 state budget is expected to bear a deficit of around Iranian rial (IRR) 3,000 trillion ($11bn), according to Hadi Qavami, a deputy minister at the economy ministry, as cited by Tehran’s Financial Tribune. The figure represents a decline of 1,500 rials on the deficit written into the 2021-2022 budget, noted Qavami.
Last year saw the government compelled to make expenditures required to address impacts of the coronavirus crisis.
Iran, meanwhile, would hope for an economic boost should the 2015 nuclear deal be relaunched once ongoing talks between Tehran and major power in Vienna are concluded.
The question of how the US Biden administration could guarantee to Iran that Washington sanctions lifted for a nuclear deal ‘mark II’ would not be reimposed by a future American president remains a sticking point. The prospect of such a reimposition would keep many foreign investors away from Iran, despite the attractions of a country with a population of 84mn people.
In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, Iranian foreign minister Amir Abdollahian said: “We demand guarantees that include not imposing any new sanctions, and not reimposing sanctions after lifting them under any pretext.”
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) estimated that Iran hit a government budget deficit of nearly 9.5% in 2020 from a 5.5% deficit in 2019. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), meanwhile, has also calculated that Iran's total budget deficit would be around $58bn.
34 IRAN Country Report June 2022 www.intellinews.com