TEHRAN - The Iranian cabinet ratified the government budget for the next fiscal year (March 2016-March 2017), the government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht announced on Tuesday.

The budget amounts to 2670 trillion rials (about $75 billion), of which 660 trillion rials (about $18.3 billion) is projected to come from oil revenues and the remaining sum will be injected from various sources, the spokesman added.
Nobakht made the remarks in his weekly press conference, saying that the budget bill has set the dollar exchange rate at 29,970 rials.
Speaking to reporters, Nobakht said the next year’s budget bill calls for renewal of the public transportation fleet.
Today, he said, about 325 thousand old taxicabs, not complying with globally-accepted emission standards, are moving in cities with populations of around 100,000. However, in the coming year, 90 thousands of such public transport vehicles will be replaced with brand new ones.
On Iran opening up doors to foreign investment after the lift of sanctions, the spokesman explained that Iran has set “three conditions for foreign investors”: First, the investment has to be two-way, meaning that Iran and the other country can both take advantage of each other’s market in terms of importing goods. Second, Iran is seeking new technology but not simply through borrowing it, yet through mutual investment. Third, international investors need to explore and find their own markets.
He then referred to Iran’s economic development and reported that the country’s growth is expected to be 5 to 6 percent next year, while the inflation rate is predicted to decline to 11 percent.
“We are planning to move ahead [economically].”
On the issue of new visa restrictions passed by the U.S. Congress and whether the decision could potentially pose a threat to the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Nobakht said that the decision is unacceptable.
He went on to say that along with Iran some European countries have also raised voice against the legislation.