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Iran government not to compensate oil revenues reduction by taxes

Business Materials 18 February 2020 15:05 (UTC +04:00)

TEHRAN, Iran, Feb.18

Trend:

Iran won't be compensating the reduction of oil revenues through tax increase, said Iran's Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand, Trend reports via ILNA.

Referring to the grievances of some economic activists for raising taxes amid reduced oil revenues, Dejpasand said that the government's approach, especially the Ministry of Economy, is not to put pressure on the private sector to compensate for the reduction in oil revenues.

“Increasing tax revenues by defining new bases is to prevent tax evasion and to organize tax breaks,” said Dejpasand.

The minister went on to say that the government has tried to use taxes as an economic policy tool and to prevent liquidity waste and irrational fluctuations in the currency, gold and commodity markets.

With oil revenues expected to fall by 70 percent, the budget for the next Iranian fiscal year is designed to resist against sanctions.

Iran is looking to reduce its reliance on oil exports by increasing taxes, borrowing more money and cutting energy subsidies.

The government plans to increase revenues from taxes by 13 percent to 1,950 trillion rials, a further blow to businesses already struggling in a slowing economy. The IMF has forecast that the Iranian economy will shrink by 9.5 percent this year.

The Islamic Republic has forecast that its crude exports will generate about 482 trillion rials next year, almost 70 percent less than this year. This equates to a sale of about 500,000 barrels of oil a day, domestic media outlets suggest, down from 2.8 million barrels per day before the reintroduction of sanctions in May after Donald Trump withdrew the US from the landmark nuclear deal agreed upon between Iran and the world powers.

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