Non-Transparent Budget Unworthy of Analysis: Economic Expert

Many experts believe that the newly-unveiled budget bill for the fiscal 2023-24 suffers from countless structural problems. It is neither operational, nor conducive to productivity. With a high operational budget and low expenditure budget, I believe there is no need to review the details of the bill, because it lacks transparency, Mohammad Reza Monjazeb, an economic expert, said in a write-up for the Persian daily Ta’adol.

The Iranian Parliament passed the outlines of next year’s budget bill, which was submitted earlier this month by President Ebrahim Raisi on Jan. 22.

The main figures in the bill include 19,840 trillion rials ($44 billion) allocated as operating budget (including revenues derived mainly from taxation and exports at the disposal of the government) plus 1,800 trillion rials ($4 billion) as revenues exclusive to ministries and governmental institutions, which bring the total sum of the general budget to 21,640 trillion rials ($48 billion). The budget of state companies, banks and for-profit organizations has been put at over 30,976 trillion rials ($68.8 billion). All in all, the ceiling set for the government’s total budget is at over 52,616 trillion rials ($116.9 billion).

All the figures indicate a significant increase compared to those in the current fiscal 2022-23 budget, which considering the high inflation rate in Iran is not unusual.