Iran's parliament today passed a budget of USD 298 billion for the year to March 2010 that was submitted by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in January, the official IRNA news agency said.
Iran's parliament todayu00a0passed a budget of USD 298 billion for the year to March 2010 that was submitted by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in January, the official IRNA news agency said.
It said the lawmakers were discussing the details, including projected revenue and expenditure for the next year.
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The budget, lower than the current year's USD 307 billion, comes at a time when Iran is battling high inflation of around 26 per cent and reduced revenue because of the plunge in world oil prices.
Ahmadinejad presented the budget based on an oil price of USD 37.5 a barrel, sharply lower than its peak of nearly USD 147 in the middle of last year.
Iranian state-run television website reported that the deputies approved "the price of USD 37.5 per barrel of crude oil in the next year's budget."
In mid-January presidential aide for planning Mohammad Ghasem Hosseini said that the government has based its budget bill for 2009-10 on an oil price of USD 37.5 per barrel.
According to National Iranian Oil Company figures Iran's average oil production is at 4.05 million bpd, with an average sale of 2.35 million bpd.
Crude income accounts for 80 per cent of foreign earnings in Iran, an OPEC member and the world's fourth largest producer of crude which depends heavily on oil revenue for government spending. (AFP)
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