TEHRAN – Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Research Center, after examining the strengths and weaknesses of the budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year of 1400 (begins on March 21, 2021), has proposed eight practical suggestions to amend the bill.

The government submitted the administration’s draft of the national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year to Majlis on December 6.

The private sector had earlier stated that the budget bill is important to them from two perspectives: the impact of the budget on macroeconomic variables and its impact on the business environment.

Following the submission of the bill to Majlis, ICCIMA called on the private sector and their specialized committees as well as the provincial chambers of commerce to submit their expert opinions and suggestions on the bill to the ICCIMA Research Center.

After reviewing the mentioned opinions, the research center has presented its final assessment and evaluation on the 1400 budget bill.

Uncertainty about the realization of the oil export resources set in the bill, excessive counting on the National Development Fund (NDF), tax increases and pressure on the private sector, the ambiguity of the government's foreign currency and supportive policies, issues related to awarding development projects and lack of transparency, as well as uncertainty about the quality of the budget allocated to government-owned companies were some of the issues that the private sector pointed out about the next year’s budget bill.

Redefining the budget structure based on the country’s production capacities and not just resources from oil and gas exports, modifying the government expenditures and expenses, clarifying the government’s foreign currency and support policies in the upcoming year, and elimination of any budgetary use of National Development Fund (NDF) resources, providing a report on the justifications for forecasting a 55-percent tax increase for legal entities, as well as considering the support for national production and encouraging investment and production, especially export products in the budget bill, were some of the suggestions provided by the ICCIMA Research Center for amending the bill.

EF/MA