Representatives of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on Wednesday, April 15, continued their review and approval of the 1395 fiscal year budget bill by adding up to 3,500 billion tomans to Iran’s defense budget.
Based on the parliament’s resolution, all revenues generated from granting exemptions to conscripts with eight years of absence will be spent up to a ceiling of 3,500 billion tomans to strengthen the defense capabilities of the armed forces.
This amount is equivalent to one billion US dollars.
Parliament representatives also authorized the government to exempt all public military service conscripts with more than eight years of absence by paying a fine for the period of absence, either in full or in installments until the end of 1395.
Previously, parliament representatives in another resolution as an addendum to the 1395 fiscal year budget bill obligated the Central Bank to deposit all recovered foreign currency resulting from lawsuits in international forums and foreign countries related to military contracts before and after the revolution, up to a ceiling of 5,000 billion tomans, into designated revenue lines.
The designated revenue lines are related to Iran’s defense budget, and that resolution also meant an increase in the ceiling of Iran’s defense budget.
In the 1395 fiscal year budget bill, which was submitted to parliament with delay and is currently being reviewed and approved, the total budget of Iran’s five military institutions was proposed at approximately 20,675 billion tomans, which represents a growth of nearly 15.2 percent compared to the total budget of these institutions in the approved 1394 fiscal year budget.
According to Eghtesad News website, the Basij Organization’s budget in the 1395 fiscal year budget bill has been proposed at 1,070 billion tomans. This budget represents an increase of approximately 5.4 percent compared to the approved budget for 1394.
The budget of the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces in the 1395 bill has been proposed at approximately 1,458 billion tomans, which represents a 13.7 percent increase compared to this institution’s approved budget in 1394.
The Joint Staff of the Army’s budget in the 1395 fiscal year budget bill has been set at 5,743 billion tomans, which shows a growth of nearly 16.3 percent compared to this staff’s approved budget in 1394.
The Joint Staff of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ budget in this year’s fiscal year bill has been proposed at 9,628 billion tomans, which represents a 15.7 percent increase compared to this staff’s approved budget in the previous year.
Finally, the Ministry of Defense’s budget in this year’s bill has been proposed at 2,776 billion tomans, which represents an increase of approximately 20.3 percent compared to the Ministry of Defense’s approved budget in 1394.
Mohammad Reza Pour Ebrahimi, spokesperson for the Budget Reconciliation Commission, after completing this commission’s work on reviewing and approving the budget bill, presented the commission’s report to the parliament’s open session and praised what he called “the government’s attention to the country’s defense budget.”
