Raisi's government seeks to "prevent excessive growth" of liquidity in the 1401 budget; US dollar reaches 30,750 Tomans
The official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, IRNA, says that Ebrahim Raisi's government is seeking to prevent "excessive growth in the country's liquidity and monetary base" in the 1401 (2022) budget in order to "significantly" reduce inflation.
According to IRNA, the 1401 budget bill was "apparently" approved by the government on Wednesday, December 7, and is scheduled to be presented to the Islamic Consultative Assembly next week.
On December 15, hours after Ebrahim Raisi promised to tackle Iran's economic problems, the price of the US dollar in the market crossed the 31,000 toman mark.
According to the latest reports from the Bonbast website, which announces exchange rates in Iran, on Thursday the US dollar buying rate was announced at 30,650 Tomans and the selling rate was announced at 30,750 Tomans.
According to ISNA, Ebrahim Raisi spoke on Thursday about transferring funds and authority to governors in the 1401 budget, adding that the income from the sale of surplus government property in each province will be spent on that province.
Masoud Mirkazemi, head of Iran's Planning and Budget Organization, announced on Tuesday, December 2, that the country's 1401 budget has been closed without a deficit and based on decentralization, and according to him, with this policy, the powers of governors will grow significantly.
In a report on Thursday, IRNA News Agency referred to statements made a few days ago by Minister of Economy and Finance Ehsan Khandozi, who stated that "controlling the growth of government spending to one-third of expected inflation, intelligently identifying tax evasion, and increasing revenue from the transfer of government property" are among the most important programs of the 13th government.
Tejarat News also wrote on December 6, quoting Masoud Mirkazemi, head of the country's Planning and Budget Organization, under the title "The government is considering increasing salaries in stages," adding: "In the 1401 budget, the government will increase purchasing power instead of increasing salaries."
The head of the Economic Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly had said on October 17 that members of this commission had met with the deputy heads of the Planning and Budget Organization and that the 1401 budget would be submitted to the Assembly after reforming the structure and content of budgeting and changing it based on the opinion of the Leader of the Islamic Republic.
According to a report by the General Treasury of Iran, the government is facing a severe budget and revenue deficit.
However, the Iran Open Database announced in a research report that Ayatollah Khamenei's representative institution in universities received about twice the amount of the projected budget in 1400.
The allocation of double the budget for some institutions under the control of the Leader of the Islamic Republic comes at a time when the spokesperson for the Planning and Budget Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly announced on October 3 that the resources for the 1400 budget have been exhausted.
This is despite the high inflation rate of 45 percent, an unofficial report indicates that the Raisi administration has "considered the budget for implementing the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the 1401 budget bill to be less than the current year's budget," and that the Welfare Organization's budget will only "increase by 10 percent."
Source: Voice of America
