Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 10
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iranian Central Bank was obliged to allocate 20 percent of the country's gas revenues to the National Development Fund (NDF), Fars news agency reported April 10.
Iranian parliament which is studying details of the current year's budget bill approved that 20 percent of revenues from natural gas exports to be transferred to the NDF after subtracting the value of imported gas.
It was earlier reported that the country will decrease share of the NDF from the country's oil revenues from 30 to 20 percent in the current fiscal year (started March 20).
Following the request of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has agreed that the share of the NDF to be cut by 10 percent, Iranian MP Mohammad Reza Pour Ebrahimi, who is the spokesman of a special parliamentary commission for studying the budget, said April 9.
The NDF is Iran's sovereign wealth fund. It was founded in 2011 to replace the Oil Stabilization Fund. The mentioned 20 percent of Iran's total oil income is to be transferred to the National Development Fund and the percentage will be increasing three percent annually until the end of the country's fifth development plan, according to Iranian laws.
It will be second straight year that the Iranian administration refuses to increase the share of the NDF, which was equal to 10 percent in the current year.
In the last fiscal year (ended March 20), Iran's government also refused to increase the 20-percent share.
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