Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 16 / Trend F.Mehdi/
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says if the subsidy reform plan is implemented properly, it can eliminate poverty, ISNA reported.
Earlier today, Ahmadinejad delivered a speech on the recent events in the country.
The subsidy reform plan was one of the most important decisions taken to thwart sanctions and guarantee sustainable development, he said.
The plan would improve productivity and reduce reliance on oil revenues, Ahmadinejad said.
Enemies had said that implementation of the plan would cause social unrest and crisis, but they saw that the plan was implemented successfully.
In particular speaking of the country's economic problems, he criticised the reliance on 'oil money' in the state budget and said it has been going on since the 70s, and got worse over time.
The president noted that the way he sees it, there four options to solve the current situation and he further disclosed several of those options.
"We need to change the flow of wealth into the country and make sure that the money is invested into not just one city of Iran, but all over the country, so that it would be equal opportunities for the entire country," Ahmadinejad said.
He further noted that to develop sustainable economic activities in the country the people of Iran would buy less gold and foreign currency.
"We should work out a plan so that all the people in the country would have an opportunity to find productive work and be active," the Iranian president said.
On December 22, 2012, Ahmadinejad stated that the implementation of the subsidy reform plan has helped Iran's production sector and the Islamic Republic registered an economic growth factor of 5.2 per cent in the last Iranian calendar year (ended March 19), which was among the highest in the world.
He noted that Iran earned $43 billion from non-oil exports, excluding the revenue from natural gas condensates and this shows the subsidy reform plan has been a success.
The subsidy reform plan which began in late 2010, has enabled the Iranian government to begin to gradually reduce energy subsidies over the course of five years with low-income families compensated with direct cash hand-outs.
Ahmadinejad stated that Iran's inflation rate now stands at 26.1 per cent.
The inflation rate rose to 20.9 per cent by the end of 2011, which showed an 8.1per cent increase compared to the preceding year, he added.
Ahmadinejad also said that adversaries are preparing to take new anti-Iran measures, but the country has grown stronger and prepared some contingency plans to counter the West's pressure.
Iran has weathered the worst of the West's economic pressure and the enemies' plots to ruin the Iranian banking and economic system have proven futile, he said.