TEHRAN – The Iranian government paid 1.686 quadrillion rials (about $6.10 billion) as the development budget in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) to realize the budget allocation for the said year by 72 percent.

As IRNA reported on Wednesday, over the past three years, issues like the pandemic and sanctions have reduced Iranian oil revenues and the government's incomes in general. This has affected the allocation of budget in all areas including the development and infrastructure.

Despite the above-mentioned hurdles, the country’s economy is passing through hard conditions and is moving toward stability.

Earlier this month, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji said the country’s oil incomes in the previous Iranian calendar year were 10 percent more than the target set in the national budget bill for the year.

“The government did not have a budget deficit in terms of oil revenues in [the Iranian calendar year] 1400,” Oji said.

The official stressed that Iran is not going to reveal the ways through which the country handles its oil exports.

According to Oji, based on the previous year’s national budget bill the government was supposed to realize 1.99 quadrillion rials (over $7.9 billion) of oil revenues by the yearend while the oil ministry managed to realize 10 percent more than the mentioned figure.

President Ebrahim Raisi submitted the administration’s draft of the national budget bill for the current Iranian calendar year 1401, to the Majlis in early December 2021.

The budget for development projects is estimated at 2.51 quadrillion rials (about $9.07 billion), with a 43 percent rise year on year.

The head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization (PBO) said in October 2021 that the national budget bill for the current Iranian calendar year has been prepared in a way that it will not face any deficits.

"Experts and decision-makers in preparing and drafting the [Iranian calendar year] 1401 budget bill have tried to have a macro view and to make sure that the decisions made by them will have positive effects for the entire nation and not just a certain group,” Mirkazemi said in the 14th meeting of the budget bill preparation headquarters on October 10, 2021.

EF/MA