TEHRAN – Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said on Monday that a special economic committee will be established in parliament to study the government’s economic reform plan.

The plan that the cabinet presented to parliament would cut energy and bread subsidies and instead give subsidies directly to families with lower incomes.
The announcement was made after a joint meeting of the Majlis and cabinet on Sunday night in which the administration’s economic reform plan was discussed.
“In last night’s session, the president’s economic plan was discussed with the representatives and the representatives expressed their views about this plan and some of its shortcomings,” Larijani told reporters on the sidelines of a cooperatives congress.
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad appeared on TV last night to explain his administration’s economic plan to the people.
Larijani said such a major economic reform requires a comprehensive study and careful preparations.
“Our recommendation is that the government should move very cautiously in regard to the economic reform plan and there should be no hurry. Moreover, the various impacts of such a plan on the social sphere should be investigated.”
Pointing out that the implementation of such a plan needs a “national will”, the Majlis speaker went on to say that after some discussions on Sunday night, it was agreed that a special committee would be established in parliament to comprehensively examine the points of the administration’s economic plan.
He noted that no “exact date” has been set for the implementation of the plan.
Meanwhile, MP Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moqaddam, the chairman of the Majlis Economic Committee, said, “The effects of such plans should be taken into consideration and predicted and solutions should be found.”
Mesbahi-Moqaddam stated that the Ahmadinejad administration intends to greatly reform banking, tax, and insurance policies and other aspects of the macroeconomic system and to give bread and energy subsidies directly to low-income families