DUBAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Iranian president Hassan Rouhani
said tackling inflation and boosting growth were the country’s
economic priorities as he presented an austerity budget, his
first, to parliament on Sunday.
Inflation has soared in the last few years, a trend analysts
say is due to increasingly tough economic sanctions and fiscal
mismanagement by former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“Employment is the most important future issue for the
economy but now the biggest problem is (tackling) stagflation,”
Rouhani in a live address on state television.
“The combination of stagnation and inflation over the past
two years was unprecedented,” he said.
Iran’s budget for the year starting in March 2014 tops $66
billion, calculated on an open-market exchange rate.
Ahmadinejad’s budget last year amounted to about $200
billion but was amended in October because the government said
it was unable to fund it.
Iranian media reported last week that the 2014 spending
assumes an average oil price of $100 per barrel, about $10 below
benchmark Brent crude prices.
