TEHRAN – President Ebrahim Raisi submitted the administration’s draft of the national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year 1401, which starts on March 21, 2022, to the Majlis on Sunday.

The president mentioned the reform of the budget structure as one of the specifications of the 1401 budget and said, “In next year's budget bill, production and employment are the pivots”.

The proposed budget amounted to about 36.31 quadrillion rials (about $864.523 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials).

The bill has envisaged public resources and expenditures, the budget of state-owned companies as well as the budget for various government bodies.

Public resources are estimated at 13.72 quadrillion rials (about $326.666 billion).

The bill has estimated the government’s budget at 15.052 quadrillion rials (about $358.38 billion), with an increase of 9.2 percent compared with the current year.

Revenues from exporting oil, gas and gas condensate are estimated at 3.818 quadrillion rials (about $90.904 billion), 8.5 percent more than the figure in the current year’s budget.

Of the mentioned 3.818 quadrillion rials, the crude oil income is estimated at 3.1 quadrillion rials (about $73.809 billion).

Oil sales is estimated at 1.2 million barrels per day at an average price of $60.

In the next years’ budget bill, the Oil Ministry is given the permission to build heavy oil refinery with the capacity of 300,000 barrels per day.

Tax and customs incomes are predicted to be 5.62 quadrillion rials (about $133.809 billion), rising 73 percent from that of the present year’s budget.

Of the mentioned figure, 5.27 quadrillion rials (about $125.476 billion) would be the share of tax income, rising 62 percent year on year.

In the 1401 budget bill, the government has declared free trade zones and special economic zones subject to VAT.

Like the current year’s budget, the next year’s proposed budget requires the government to pay 20 percent of its oil, gas, and gas condensate revenues to National Development Fund (NDF).

Contrary to this year's bill, in which the stock exchange had a significant share in government funding, in the next year’s budget bill the share has been reduced.

Next year, 880 trillion rials (about $20.952 billion) of Islamic bonds are to be sold, which is a 33-percent decrease compared to 1400.

The budget for development projects is estimated at 2.51 quadrillion rials (about $59.761 billion), with 43 percent rise year on year.

In next year's budget bill for the sustainability of pension funds, the government proposed raising the retirement age for men and women by two years.

The budget bill for the year 1401 is printed and distributed among the members of the parliament after its presentation and they will have 10 days to submit their proposals and reviews on the budget to relevant specialized committees.

Specialized committees will also have 15 days to submit their reviews to the parliament ad hoc budget review committee (known as Talfiq Committee).

Talfiaq Committee is a body consisting of MPs from different committees which is established each year to study the national budget bill.

MA/MA