Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 2
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The budget bill for the next Iranian fiscal year, which will start on March 21, 2015 has been almost finalized, the Islamic Republic president, Hassan Rouhani said, Iran's state IRINN TV reported Dec. 2.
Rouhani said that the next year budget is set at 2.196 quadrillion rials(about $81.57 billion based on the official rate of 26,845 rials per each USD).
He added that the administration has allocated 461trillion rials(about $17.17 billion) for development projects in the next year's budget. Rouhani did not provide any further details about the budget bill.
Spokesman of the Planning and Budget Commission of Iranian Parliament, Gholam Reza Kateb said that the government has suggested that oil price in the next year's budget plan be set at $70 per each barrel.
Iran is expected to face a budget deficit in the current Iranian fiscal year (to end March 20, 2015), due to the sharp fall in oil prices. Iran 's current year budget envisages the price of $100 per barrel of oil. This is while each Iranian oil barrel is currently sold at around $80.
Based on Iran 's current year budget law, the country is supposed to export 1.4 million barrels of oil (including gas condensate) per day.
Reports suggest that the country is daily earning $18-20 million less than the projected figure, so if the current trend continues the total budget deficit may soar above $2.5 billion.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has also predicted that Iran 's total oil revenues will be 30 percent less than expected.