General Budget for 2024 Rejected in Parliament

In today's open session on December 21, the members of Parliament rejected the general outline of the 2024 national budget proposed by President Ebrahim Raisi with 91 votes in favor, 127 against, and 10 abstentions. Following this decision, the government has seven days to amend the bill and resubmit it to Parliament. The Joint Budget Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly reported that next year, the personnel budgets for employees and pensions and other benefits for retirees will face challenges. The general outline of next year's budget faced significant criticism, with the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce stating, 'What we see in the government's proposed bill is the most ambiguous budget proposal since the Constitutional Revolution, and it does not align with the seventh development plan.' Hossein Saleh Varzi emphasized that tax increases would lead to recessionary effects; due to the tax hikes, the 2024 budget would impose additional pressure on the productive sector of the economy. The government proposed a 40% increase in taxes for the next year's budget and claimed it would seek to address tax evasion. A member of Parliament stated that subsidies should be increased to 3 million tomans. A dispute over salaries arose; the head of the Budget and Planning Organization stated that there would be no 30% increase. A proposal to set the dollar at 35,000 tomans for the 2024 budget was made; Ahmad Alavi warned that this would exacerbate inflation and economic recession. A 50% increase in taxes was also proposed; experts say this would lead to an increase in poverty. The 2024 budget has reached Baharestan; the autumn of livelihoods, the spring of military.