Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 9
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran's Supreme Audit Court has reported that drawing $4.1 billion from the National Development Fund (NDF) by the administration was against the law.
Gholamreza Kateb, the chairman of the budget and planning committee of the Iranian parliament, said the sum of money was related to the Oil Ministry's claim for exporting oil, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported on Dec. 9.
The parliamentary commission says the sum was the share of the NDF of petrodollars, but it has been spent on development projects.
Central Bank of Iran Governor Valiollah Seif has rejected the Supreme Audit Court's report, saying that the administration has not drawn any money from the NDF.
Based on Iran's Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015), the government should deposit more than 30 percent of its annual oil income to the National Development Fund
Robert Biglerian, a member of the Energy Commission of Iran's Parliament told Trend news agency on Dec. 6 that the government can use the NDF funds to invest in the country's infrastructure development plans and even pay the current expenses.
The assets of the NDF have reached $22.2 billion.