Parliament Plans to Cut Iran Budget’s Reliance on Oil
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian legislator said a motion will be proposed to the country's parliamentarians which, if approved, will completely cut the national budget’s dependence on the oil revenues by the next three years.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Gholamreza Ja’farzadeh said the motion will require the administration to save the revenues from oil sale in the foreign-exchange reserves account.
The administration will be allowed to withdraw money for the costs only from the foreign-exchange reserves fund, and will no more have permission to spend the petrodollars directly, the MP said of details of the plan.
If the administration sticks to plans, it will be possible to cut the budget’s reliance on oil incomes within the next three years, he explained.
Over the past six months, the oil prices have fallen more than 50 percent due to a glut of supplies by certain countries such as Saudi Arabia.
In October, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called for formulation of necessary plans to cut Iran’s dependence on oil revenues and govern the country on the basis of domestic capabilities instead of natural resources.
Iran’s new administration, which took office in August 2013, has voiced determination to increase the volume of non-oil exports as a determining factor in countering economic stagnation in the country.