Fiscal 2021-22 Budget Headed to Guardians Council for Verification

In the next fiscal year (starting March 21, 2021), the operating budget (including revenues derived mainly from taxation and exports at the disposal of the government) has been projected to stand at 9,107 trillion rials ($36.42 billion at the market exchange rate of rials per dollar). 

Add to this, revenues and expenses earmarked for ministries and governmental institutions worth 950.73 trillion rials ($3.8 billion) take the total sum of the general budget to 10,058 trillion rials ($40.23 billion).

The budget of state companies, banks and for-profit organizations has been put at 15,647 trillion rials ($62.58 billion). 

All in all, the ceiling set for the government’s total budget is at 25,117 trillion rials ($100.46 billion).

The parliament-approved budget was sent to the Guardians Council—the body in charge of ascertaining the constitutional and Islamic nature of all laws—on Sunday for final endorsement, IRIB News reported.

Lawmakers approved the outlines of fiscal 2021-22 budget revised by the government on Feb. 16. 

The approval came after the parliamentarians rejected the outlines of the bill on Feb. 1 and returned it to the government for revision. 

Total tax earnings had been set at 2,515 trillion rials ($10 billion) in the first draft. 

According to Mohammad Khodabakhshi, the deputy head of Majlis Plan and Budget Commission, the government added 250 trillion rials ($1 billion) to tax revenues in the amendment. 

“The government has projected that its oil and oil products revenues will stand at 1,990 trillion rials [$7.9 billion] in the budget amendment; the projected earnings were the same in the original draft,” he was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.

The government earned 1,920 trillion rials ($7.68 billion) from taxation, customs duties and resources entitled “miscellaneous income” during the nine months to Dec. 20, 2020, which is 88% of the projected figure in the budget law for the period.

According to a report by Fars News Agency, nine-month income from the transfer of capital assets which consists of several sections such as exports of petroleum products, natural gas and gas condensates was less than 10% of the budgetary estimate for the period, i.e. 75.21 trillion rials ($300 million).

The earnings from the transfer of financial assets, including sales of treasury bonds, stood at 1,715 trillion rials ($6.86 billion), 130% of the budgetary estimate for the nine-month period.

The government’ aggregate resources during the period stood at 3,713 trillion rials ($14.85 billion), which constitute 86% of the budgetary estimate.

On the side of expenditure, the government’s operating expenses, including compensation of public employees, stood at 3,117 trillion rials ($12.46 billion) during the period under review, i.e. 94.6% of figure projected in the budget.

Nine-month capital expenditure (spending on development projects) hovered around 586 trillion rials ($2.34 billion), 88.2% of the budget’s projected figure for the nine-month period. 

The government spent 320.43 trillion rials ($1.28 billion) on financial assets, including buying back debts and bonds interest expenses, which is 90.2% of the budget’s estimated figure for the period. 

Overall expenditure stuck around 4,024 trillion rials ($16 billion), which is 93.2% of the projected sum.