Tehran, Iran, May 23
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Vice-chancellor of Iran's National Development Fund Mohammad Qasem Hosseni said in the past Iranian fiscal year (which ended March 21), the government deposited close to $12 billion in the fund.
The sum they must have paid has been paid in full, he said, ISNA news agency reported May 23.
During the previous Iranian year, the National Development Fund's share of Iran's oil revenue was set at 29 percent.
But the government had to pay 2 percent more since it had withdrawn $2.7 billion to pay to individuals as cash subsidies for the New Year Eve of that year.
The government's full payment of the share comes despite the fact that oil prices plunged drastically during the past year.
Due to the oil price reduction, the fund's share has been set at 20 percent, stated in the statute, for the current year.
Iran decreased its reliance on oil revenues in the government budget from above 40 percent to 31.5 percent, but this even seems overly optimistic. A barrel of oil in the budget bill is put at $72.
In 2014, Iran's revenue from crude sales, the OPEC member's biggest export, dropped 30 percent because of the recent decline in global oil prices.
Iranian oil exports fell to the lowest level on record in August, according to the Joint Organisations Data Initiative. Economic growth and energy demand is slowing in China, Iran's biggest buyer, while the Gulf state's sales are restricted by U.S. and European Union sanctions.