Tehran, Iran, Sept. 3
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iranian MP Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moghaddam said that the sanctions have decreased the dependence of Iran's budget on oil exports to 40 percent from the previous figure of 56 percent.
Mesbahi-Moghaddam, head of parliament's budget and planning committee, said on September 2 that a decrease in oil exports has resulted in less dependence on the oil revenues, Iran's IRNA News Agency reported.
"Even if the sanctions are lifted, Iran needs to continue decreasing its budget's dependence on the oil revenues," he added.
He didn't mention in which year the decrease started.
Former President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad admitted in January 2013 that the western-imposed sanctions have negatively affected Iranian economy. He said that the solution to fight this issue is to decrease the country's dependence on oil exports.
The International Monetary Fund reported in December 2012 the sanctions have contracted Iranian economy by 3.5 percent.
It is while according to the former economy minister of Iran, Davoud Danesh-Ja'fari, and the Speaker of the Majlis Planning and Budget Commission Gholamreza Kateb, Iranian budget's dependence on the oil revenues is around 65 percent.
Iran's dependence on the oil revenues is supposed to reach zero percent by the end of the Fifth Five-year Socio-Economic Development Plan (2011-2015).
Mesbahi-Moghaddam said that the goal is a "Great National Goal" which will be perused in the sixth development plan.
He went on to note that the government will submit the Sixth Five-year Socio-Economic Development Plan's bill to the parliament by the end of the current year (March 20, 2015).
"The National Development Fund's remaining assets are around 30-34 billion dollars," he said, adding the total assets of the fund are 65-66 billion dollars.
"The private investors can get loans from the fund in order to create job opportunities," he noted.
Safdar Hosseini, the manager of the National Development Fund said in June that the fund's total assets are around $40.168 billion.
It is while former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put the figure at 50 billion dollars in his last days in office, while first Vice-president Is'haq Jahangiri said that the fund's assets are 32 billion dollars.
The NDF is Iran's sovereign wealth fund. It was founded in 2011 to replace Oil Stabilization Fund.
Based on Article 84 of the Fifth Five-year Socio-Economic Development Plan (2011-2015), the National Development Fund was established to transform oil and gas revenues to productive investment for future generation.
Some 23 percent of the revenues from the mentioned sources went into the NDF in 2013. This share will reach 32 percent by the end of 2016.
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