No budget deficit in current year: PBO head

Head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization (PBO) said despite the decrease in the country’s oil revenues the country won’t face any budget deficit in the current calendar year (ends on March 19, 2020).

“Although the provisioned incomes are not going to be realized completely this year, since the costs are planned to be proportional to the available revenues we are not expecting any budget deficit,” Tasnim news agency quoted Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht as saying on Wednesday.

“In fact we will reduce the government’s expenses to the amount of our revenues so that they would be equal,” he added.

According to the official, the government is going to decrease the amount of the expected expenses and the country’s financial resources from the previous 4.48 quadrillion rials (about $106.6 billion) to 3.86 quadrillion rials (about $91.9 billion) by yearend.

President Hassan Rouhani presented the 17.03-quadrillion-rial (about $405 billion) national budget bill for the current Iranian calendar year 1398, to the Majlis in late December.

Supplying basic goods, treatment and medical equipment; securing livelihood; supporting production and employment; promoting tourism; and preserving water resources and environment were the focal points of the bill.

It estimated the oil income at 1.425 quadrillion rials (about $34 billion) with 410 trillion rials (about $9.7 billion) rise year on year while the government’ expenses were seen to be 3.2 quadrillion rials (about $76 billion).

As unveiled on December 7 by Budget and Planning Organization, the proposed budget bill forecasted 1.5 million barrels of oil sales per day at the price of $54 per barrel.

source: Tehran Times

Hassan Rouhani Planning & Budget Organization budget