TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization (PBO) said the oil revenues in budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year (starts on March 20, 2020) are estimated on the expectations of selling one million barrels per day (bpd) of oil at an average price of $50, ISNA reported.

“We have estimated the country’s oil revenues to stand at 480 trillion rials (about $11.4 billion) in the next year, and this figure is estimated based upon one million barrels per day of oil sales at $50 per barrel,” Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht said in a press conference on Monday.

Pointing out that some might say that the oil revenue estimations are too optimistic, Nobakht said: “the average oil price in the current year has been up to $60; we should be able to sell our oil and increase the national wealth.”

President Hassan Rouhani submitted the administration’s draft of the national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year 1399 to the Majlis on Sunday.
The proposed budget amounted to about 1.988 quadrillion rials (about $473.5 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials), with a 14-percent rise from the current year’s approved budget.

It has envisaged 2.61 quadrillion rials (about $62.14 billion) of incomes, while 3.67 quadrillion rials (about $87.38 billion) of expenses.

Like the current year’s budget, the next year’s proposed budget requires the government to pay 20 percent of its oil revenues to the National Development Fund (NDF).

The main characteristic of the next year's budget bill which makes it different from previous years' budget bills, is the impact of the U.S. sanctions on the country's economy and the consequent considerations which have been taken into account in preparing it.

The next year’s budget bill has been modified in terms of resources, expenditures, policies, and objectives, considering the resistance against the U.S. sanctions.
In resources, the government has tried to have the least dependence on oil resources in the history of the country’s economy.

During his speech after submitting the budget bill on Sunday, President Rouhani said, “Budget bill for [Iranian year of] 1399 is drafted considering resistance against the sanctions. It shows the world that we will manage our economy despite the sanctions.”

EF/MA