TEHRAN, Iran, Jan.2
Trend:
Iran should cut its costs and increase non-oil exports to get revenues and help its economy, former Iranian MP Ahmad Shirzad told Trend.
"Oil provides a major part of the country's revenues. Fortunately, Iran's export and import are good. In general, Iran's import volume is similar to its non-oil export, which indicates that economy is stable," Shirzad said.
"Iran's problems with oil sale during sanctions might cause the foreign currency rate to remain high," he said.
Shirzad added that the limits in oil sale has the most effect on Iran's budget plan.
"The country should be governed by non-oil exports and tax revenues. In the current situation, naturally, there should be more efforts to resolve the sanctions problem politically, and find replacement for oil customers. It would be difficult, but considering Iran's national interests, it is of utmost importance," Shirzad said.
"In addition to creating an atmosphere for negotiating with the US, we should try to confront sanctions by using domestic capacities, which includes reducing dependency on oil sales," he said.
"Lack of possibility to sell oil will have a direct effect on the budget plan and the government will face considerable deficit that should be controlled. The government will be forced to borrow from Central Bank of Iran, and this will eventually lead to high inflation," he added.