The dispute between Mehr and Tasnim news agencies over the "empty treasury of the country"

Tasnim has published a document indicating that Hassan Rouhani has spoken of “the country’s empty treasury” in recent days. Mehr News Agency strongly criticized this news and called on Ebrahim Raisi and the prosecutor’s office to deal with these “completely wrong” letters.

On Tuesday, October 26, the Tasnim news agency said it had obtained a document in which former President Hassan Rouhani officially announced to Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, head of the Planning and Budget Organization, in August of this year: "All treasury assets have been emptied."

In this document, Mahmoud Vaezi, the head of the President's Office, wrote in a letter to Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the head of the Planning and Budget Organization, on August 28, 1401: "Your Excellency's letter No. 194653, dated August 28, 1401, with the subject of the request " to pay the mentioned amount to the treasury in order to complete and operate the water supply project to Abeek," the image of which is attached, was brought to the attention of the Honorable Presidency of the Republic . He wrote in the footnote: " All treasury assets have been emptied based on your Excellency's requests, there is no asset."

Tasnim adds that various evidence and clues, based on statistics from government and non-government centers, showed that challenges such as budget deficits, inflation, and economic recession are among the "ominous legacies" that have plagued the Iranian economy in the first few months of the new government's presence.

According to Tasnim, a report attributed to the Central Bank was recently published showing that inflation reached more than 50 percent in the first half of 1400. A recent report by the Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly indicates a budget deficit of at least 400 trillion tomans and an insufficiency of budget resources this year.

Tasnim has accused the Rouhani government of adding new expenses to the government's current expenses in the final days of the 12th government, including equalizing pensioners' salaries and grading teachers, even in the difficult conditions of a severe budget deficit. "All of this evidence indicated that an 'empty treasury' was being handed over to the 13th government, although there was no official document to prove it."

Strong criticism from Mehr News Agency

Following the publication of this Tasnim report and its attached document, Mehr News Agency has strongly criticized the attribution of the "emptying" of the country's treasury to former President Hassan Rouhani.

Mehr writes: "The questionable nature of this letter is that, in addition to the strange language and lack of a confidential seal, it also shows that the head of the country's Planning and Budget Organization is not aware of the state of the treasury and that the president should inform him of the state of the treasury; whereas, as a rule, it is the president who inquires about the state of the treasury from the head of his Planning and Budget Organization!"

According to Mehr, this is the second time in recent days that correspondence and reports attributed to the "government and the program organization in the previous government" have been published. Previously, they had "falsely and contrary to all calculations and economic principles, claimed that the dollar's price would reach several hundred thousand tomans."

According to the Mehr News Agency, how is it possible that the treasury was empty, but in recent days, Ehsan Khandozi, the Minister of Economy, has repeatedly admitted on his personal page on social networks that the entire country's budget for September and October was adequately financed without borrowing from the Central Bank, and in October, even without selling debt securities?

Yesterday, former Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati tweeted about the government's "indirect" borrowing from the Central Bank: "It was announced that there has been no borrowing from the Central Bank since September. It is good to know that financing the deficit by putting pressure on banks and their funds also leads to heavy overdrafts from the Central Bank, which has happened. The result is indirect borrowing and expansion of the monetary base."

Mehr News Agency has deemed it necessary to involve the prosecutor as the public prosecutor, as well as security and intelligence agencies, in dealing with the publishers of such "completely false reports," whether they are inside or outside the government.

Source: DW