Tehran, Iran, Dec. 29
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iranian MP Ali Mohammad Ahmadi said that if the current trend of oil price continues, the parliament needs to revise the government's proposed oil price for the next year's budget plan.
Ahmadi told Trend Agency on Dec. 29 that if the prices don't bounce back in the next 30 days, then the proposed figure of $72 per barrels should be revised.
"If the prices remain near $50 per barrel, we need to find an alternative to increase the government's revenues in the next calendar year (to start on March 21)," he said.
Falling global oil prices forced Iran's government to decrease the oil price figure in the proposed budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year to $72 per barrel from the current figure of $100.
Iran is expected to face severe budget deficit in the current Iranian calendar year (to end March 20, 2015).
The country decided to sell its crude oil to Asia in November at the biggest discount in almost six years. The decision was made after Saudi Arabia cut prices for all grades and to all regions for November. Qatar and Iraq decreased their prices as well.
Based on Iran's budget law, the country is supposed to export 1.4 million barrels of oil (including gas condensate) per day.
Reports suggest that if the current tendency continues, the total budget deficit may soar above $2.5 billion.
The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also predicted that Iran's total oil revenues will be 30 percent less than expected.
Experts believe that due to the continuing fall of oil prices in global markets, a budget deficit in the next calendar year is also inevitable.
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