Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.31/ Trend G.Mehdi/
Water and electricity bills in Iran may rise by 15 per cent in the next Iranian calendar year if the second phase of the subsidy reform plan is not implemented; ISNA quoted Deputy Energy Minister Ali Zabihi as saying. The Iranian calendar year begins on March 20.
If the second phase of the plan is carried out, any change in water and electricity bills will be enforced based on the policies of the headquarters for implementing the subsidy reform plan, the official said.
On October 7, the Iranian parliament (Majlis) approved a single urgency bill that suspends the implementation of the second phase of the subsidy reform plan.
The implementation of the subsidy reform plan began in December 2010. At the time, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called it the "biggest economic plan of the past 50 years."
It allows the government to gradually slash subsidies on fuel, electricity and certain goods over the course of five years, with low income families being compensated with direct cash hand-outs.