TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Hojjatoleslam Ebrahim Raeisi held a session of Supreme Council of Economic Coordination on Saturday.

Regulations to implement oil projects were approved in the meeting.

First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, Presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi, Vice President for Economic Affairs Mohammad Nahavandian, Governor of Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdolnasser Hemmati, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Farhad Dejpasand, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian, Head of Iran Planning and Budget Organization (PBO) Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, Iran’s prosecutor general, and a number of MPs attended the session.

The previous session of the Supreme Council of Economic Coordination was held on August 10 during which Rouhani said that solving people’s problems must be the main objective of policy making and decision making.

With an indirect reference to the reimposition of sanctions on Iran by the Trump administration, the president said, “Both the people and the government have passed difficult times, however, decisions can be taken in line with economic stability and progress and the people’s prosperity.”

Last year, the Trump administration abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal and ordered old and new sanctions on Iran. The move resulted in a great devaluation of national currency and high price rises. However, nearly after a year the economy is stabilizing.
 
Rouhani said his administration is making efforts to resolve the people’s economic problems.

To counter the effects of sanctions, the government is taking compensatory measures.

During a session of the Supreme Council of Economic Coordination on July 27, four strategies to compensate for budget deficit were approved.

Transferring government’s assets, using forex reserves, selling Islamic bonds, and withdrawing 450 trillion rials (about $10.714 billion) from National Development Fund (NDF) were the four strategies approved in that session.

During a session of the council on July 13, the amendments to the national budget plan for the current calendar year (started on March 21) had been approved.

The generalities of a modified budget plan, which has been restructured in line with the country’s “resilience economy”, were approved.

The modifications consist of four major parts, which are “sustainable revenue resources”, “effective expenditure”, “promoting stability, development and justice” as well as “fundamental modifications of budgetary system”. 

They are aimed at reducing the country’s dependence on oil money and promoting economic stability under the umbrella term “resistance economy”, ordered by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

It was decided in that session that the council would study the priorities in the amendment plan in its next gathering.

NA