President Unveils Draft “Budget of Resistance” to Counter Sanctions
IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK
President Hassan Rouhani has submitted a draft state budget to the parliament, saying it has the least possible dependence on oil and is meant to resist and counter U.S. sanctions.
He gave the value of the draft budget at about 4,845 trillion rials ($38.8 billion at the free market rate) for the next Iranian year which starts on March 20, 2020.
“Next year, similar to the current year, our budget is a budget of resistance and perseverance against sanctions,” he told the parliament in Tehran on Sunday.
“This budget announces to the world that despite sanctions, we will manage the country, especially in terms of oil,” he added.
The budget, he said, has taken the U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign against the Islamic Republic into account. “This is a budget to resist sanctions … with the least possible dependence on oil.”
The president stressed that the enemies have failed in their plot to wreck Iran’s economy and that the government has taken big steps toward prosperity and progress.
“Our enemies – the U.S. and the Zionist regime – thought that with severe sanctions they would make the nation unable to build the country and the government impotent to enforce the law and budget, but they have been disappointed to this day and will continue to be so.”
The new budget includes a 15 percent raise in the wages of government employees.
President Rouhani submitted the new budget after deciding last month to raise gasoline prices by 50 percent.
The president expressed hope Sunday that the measure would help Iran’s nascent self-sufficiency in gasoline continue.
By March, he said, gasoline production in Iran will reach 110 million liters per day, twice the volume the country produced six years ago when his administration took office.
He went on to brief the lawmakers on the achievements of the administration during the last year in different sectors such as in energy, agriculture, and health despite sanctions being imposed on the country.
Rouhani added that “I have good news for our dear representatives and nation. Our economic relations with neighboring and non-neighboring countries have improved in recent months and we hope to improve our relations with these countries.”
“Our temporary entry into the Eurasian Economic Union means that our goods and products will be exported with better figures without tariffs or with very low tariffs,” the president said, adding, “We are going to implement the same plan soon with Turkey, the Republic of Azerbaijan and other countries”.
Rouhani added, “Regarding our plans for investment, out of Russia’s $5 billion investment in Iran, over $2 billion has already been finalized and the rest will be operational in 2020,” as reported by Iranian President’s office.
