Azerbaijan, Baku, May 7/Trend M. Moezzi
A day after approving $44 billion (USD) to fund the second phase of Iran's subsidy reform plan, far below the government's request, the Majlis (parliament) Budget Integration Committee has added another $10 billion to the programme's funding.
Of the $54 billion in funds, the committee allocated $1.6 billion for unemployment insurance, about $4.9 billion for health, $8.1 billion for manufacturing and more than $39 billion for cash subsidies, Mehr news agency reports.
The Majlis and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government have been locked in disagreement over the start and funding of the second phase of Iran's subsidies reform programme.
Started in December 2011, the subsidy programme pays out $37 (USD), to Iranians while eliminating subsidies for energy carriers and some commodities.
Recently, the Iranian government transferred about $23, to Iranians' accounts for the second phase of the program without approval from the Majlis (parliament). Thirty per cent of theme income from the subsidies reform program was to be routed to the industrial sector to help offset higher energy costs. The subsidies programme which was supposed to pay for itself, has a $16 billion deficit.