TEHRAN, Iran, Dec.11
Trend:
The predictions on the volume of oil sales in the next Iranian year (starts March 21, 2021) should change, said the head of parliament's economic commission.
"The predicted figure in the budget plan for oil is unreal and not related to government work in current Iranian year (started March 20, 2020) and the budget is overestimated," said Mohamadreza Pourebrahimi, Trend reports citing Mehr News Agency.
"Oil sale should be reviewed since the oil should be eliminated from the budget plan and we should rely on sustainable non-oil products. the revenues from oil should not be used in the next year's budget plan," he said.
"The budget operational balance is - $76 billion that means about 35 percent of budget costs are paid by sustainable revenues and others would be done via other methods including the sale of oil bonds and oil sale," he added.
Pourebrahimi went on to say that the assignment of government-owned assets that includes oil in the current year was predicted to be $25 billion while only $5 billion has been provided. Although the figure has increased by 100 percent for next year, comparison of these figures indicates the numbers are not real and adaptable with the country's economic conditions.
According to him, the oil revenues should be eliminated from the budget and if Iran wants to boost its position in OPEC, the revenues should not be recorded on a public budget but should be part of the National Development Fund.
"Reviewing the government's resources in oil and issuing securities is one of our priorities. The prediction of oil bonds sale in next Iranian year budget plan is $16 billion but if the presale of these bonds lead to real oil sale the figure would be $47 billion that is different from the concept of oil bond," he noted.
"The predicted costs in next year budget plan had the highest growth compare to other budget plans. The estimated budget costs are $151 billion that has 60 percent growth compare to current Iranian year costs of $99 billion," Pourebrahimi said.
He also added that the share of tax and customs revenues in next year's budget plan declined to less than 30 percent compared to previous years.