Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 15/ Trend M. Moezzi
Diesel use dropped by 10 percent and petrol use decreased by 6 percent for the first 11 months of Iran's targeted subsidies program, Mehr news agency reported.
Before the targeted subsidies program came into effect, low fuel prices encouraged waste and smuggling fuel to other countries, said Mohammad Reza Farzin, deputy economic minister. He oversees the program. The targeted subsidies program has increased social justice, he added.
The Iranian government pays each citizen $45 a month as compensation for eliminating commodities' and energy subsidies. Cutting out the energy subsidies was expected to drive down Iranians' energy consumption. Cutting off subsidies was projected to save $54 billion per one year. Eighty per cent of this sum was to be transferred to the citizens' bank accounts to compensate for subsidy removals, and twenty percent was to be allocated for industry and construction sectors.
According to a report issued by Iran's Supreme Audit Court, the government has had to borrow $6.5 billion from the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) to pay for its targeted subsidies program this year.