TEHRAN - Iranian parliament’s ad hoc budget review committee has passed a bill to allow withdrawing €2.795 billion from the National Development Fund (NDF) for compensating the next calendar year’s budget deficits.

As reported by Tasnim, the administration’s budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year (starts on March 19, 2020) had previously stated that the government should be allowed to withdraw €3.425 billion from the National Development Fund in the form of foreign currency facilities; however, the review committee modified the figure down to €2.795 billion.

The mentioned facilities are going to be allocated for a variety of areas including development and infrastructure projects such as new irrigation systems, supplying water and electricity to rural areas, and establishing and supporting knowledge-based companies and projects, as well as increasing the government’s investment in the country’s Exports Guarantee Fund.

The parliament’s ad hoc budget review committee submitted its report on the administration’s budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year to the parliament (Majlis) earlier this week.

After receiving the committee report, the parliament members have 10 days to announce their final verdict about the budget bill.

President Hassan Rouhani presented the administration’s draft of the 19.88 quadrillion rials (about $473.3 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials) budget bill in early December 2019.

In late February, Majlis rejected general outlines of the national budget bill stating that the bill is not compatible with the country’s current economic conditions.

The bill has estimated the government’s budget at 5.63 quadrillion rials (about $134.04 billion), 8.2 percent higher than the figure in the present year’s budget.

According to the submitted bill, revenues from exporting oil, gas, and gas condensate are estimated at 454.9 trillion rials (about $10.83 billion), down 66 percent from 1.37 quadrillion rials (about $32.61 billion) approved in the current year’s budget.

The government has envisioned various strategies for compensating the next year’s budget deficit due to the fall in oil revenues.

EF/MA