TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday said during a parliament debate on his administration’s budget bill for next calendar year that he sees a “very bright future” for the country.
Addressing an open session of the parliament, Raisi said the budget law presented for the year 1402, starting March 21, will avoid borrowing from Iran’s central bank and would seek to meet its revenue targets.
Raisi set the tackling of galloping inflation and currency devaluation as priorities for the 2023-2024 budget presented to parliament.
“Transparency, improving people’s livelihoods... controlling inflation and costs and supporting the stock market” are the budget priorities for the year starting on March 21, Raisi said.
“Know that the prices of (foreign) currencies and gold, as well as the prices of many expensive things in the country will decrease,” the president promised.
Iran’s economy has been subject to increasing pressure with fresh sanctions imposed by Western countries.
“The enemy is trying to impose difficult conditions and despair on the people” but “the government and parliament must give people hope,” Raisi said.
He assured that the government has “a short and long-term strategy” to support activity in the sectors of housing, health, food and transport.
Parliament on Sunday approved the budget which relied on projected exports of 1.4 million barrels of crude per day at an average price of $85 per barrel, IRNA news agency reported.
The Iranian president also hailed efforts by his administration to reach an economic growth figure of nearly 4% in the current calendar year.
He said the government has been successful in efforts to increase
energy production and to control the inflation rate in the country.
Raisi also defended government’s employment records and said nearly one million jobs have been created in Iran since he took office in August 2021.
In his speech, the Iranian president also hailed the Iranian people for their patience and resistance during the recent riots in the country.
He also slammed a decision earlier this week by the European Union’s parliament to designate the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps as a terrorist entity, stating that the Iranian military force has been at the forefront of fighting against terrorism in the region.
Iranian lawmakers approved Sunday the outlines of the budget bill for the next calendar year to start on March 21, 2023, a member of parliament said.
The bill got approval with 70 percent of votes in favor, Shamseddin Husseini, a member of the parliamentary commission in charge of reviewing the 1402 budget bill noted.