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Iran to liberalize fuel prices in 5-7 years

Business Materials 8 April 2014 13:16 (UTC +04:00)
Iran will liberalize fuel prices in a time span of 5-7 years.

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.8

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

Iran will liberalize fuel prices in a time span of 5-7 years.

Iranian economy minister Ali Tayyebnia said on April 8 that the Iranian administration has targeted 70 trillion rials (about $2.8 billion) from implementing the subsidy reform plan in the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported.

Tayyebnia went on to say that the administration's top priority is to improve health-related services in the country.

The national budget law allows the administration to gain 200 trillion rials (about $8 billion) through raising fuel prices, but the administration aims to gain one third of the sum, he explained.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on April 5 that he will accept full responsibility for implantation of the second phase of subsidy reform plan, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.

"The country's inflation rate is projected to drop to 25 percent by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 20105)," he said. "Improving relation with foreign countries may even cause the figure to fall below 25 percent."

He put the Iranian government's total income at around 1,480 trillion rials (some $48.36 billion based on the exchange rate of USD at the free market).

"My government faced severe economic problems in the past year but I never allowed borrowing money from the central bank," he said.

The Statistical Center of Iran on March 1 put the 12-month and the point-to-point inflation rates for the eleventh Iranian calendar month of Bahman (January 21 - February 19) at 33.7 percent and 22 percent, respectively, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.

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