TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization (PBO) has announced an over 310 trillion rials (about $7.38 billion) budget allocation for development projects across the country in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 20), IRNA reported.

According to a PBO statement, the mentioned budget has been allocated for accelerating the implementation of prioritized national and provincial development projects and to fulfill the current year’s slogan which is “surge in production”.

The resources allocated to the national development projects are going to be 218 trillion rials ($5.19 billion), while special provincial projects will be given 16.74 trillion rials ($398.5 million), provincial projects 62 trillion rials (about $1.47 billion) and miscellaneous projects, including border water projects and the tropical project will be allocated 15.2 trillion rials (about $632 million), according to TPO.

Back in October 2019, Nobakht had said that 430 trillion rials (about $10.2 billion) was going to be allocated for development projects in the current calendar year’s budget plan.

“We intend to invest as much as we can in the development sector in the next [Iranian calendar] year, so we have increased the budget for this sector by 53 percent to achieve significant growth,” Nobakht said last year on the sidelines of the 12th meeting of the budget headquarters on October 14.

PBO had previously announced that the government was going to allocate all revenues from oil sales to the development projects following structural reforms in the budget bill.

According to Nobakht, the revenues gained from the elimination of hidden energy subsidies as well as increased tax incomes would replace oil revenues.

Following the fall in oil prices and the outbreak of coronavirus, the Iranian government has cut some of its budgetary provisions for the current Iranian calendar year.

EF/MA