Government of Masoud Pezeshkian Promises to Complete 'Incomplete Projects' Through Sale of State Assets

The government of Masoud Pezeshkian has promised to complete the country's unfinished projects through the sale of state assets known as 'asset generation'. Mohammad Jafar Qaim Panah, the executive deputy of the president, stated on Sunday, December 4, that the government's priority in spending the resources obtained from 'asset generation' is unfinished projects. Meanwhile, only 7% of the government's plan to sell its assets has been realized in the first half of this year. The government has allocated 62 trillion tomans (equivalent to 62 billion dollars) in the current year's budget from the sale of state assets, but a report from the Research Center of the Parliament indicates that only 2.2 trillion tomans, equivalent to 7% of the six-month budget, has been realized in the first half of this year. Such a low volume of state asset sales has also been observed in previous years' budgets, as governments, aware of the continued depreciation of the national currency, are reluctant to convert their assets into rials and spend them. In contrast, to compensate for the budget deficit, the government borrows and sells securities much more than the budget plan each year. For example, while asset generation has only been 7% realized in the first half of this year, the government sold 148 trillion tomans in bonds during the same period, which is 17% more than the amount set in the budget. The Research Center of the Parliament predicts that the issuance of government financial securities will be two and a half times the amount included in the budget law by the end of the year. Mr. Qaim Panah, in the fifteenth meeting of the committee monitoring unfinished projects, without referring to the status of asset generation budget realization, called for 'clear and transparent explanations of projects' from the provinces and stated that the physical progress and status reports of the projects must be presented clearly and accurately. The ISNA news agency reports that in this meeting, projects related to the provinces of Golestan, Markazi, and Isfahan were reviewed and approved, including the completion of a stadium, sports hall, four health and treatment projects, nine schools, and four agricultural jihad projects. In the budget bill for the next year, the government has only included 25 trillion tomans from asset generation, which is 60% less than the current year's budget law, but the realization of this amount seems very unlikely given past experiences. Even if the entire 25 trillion tomans from asset generation in the next year's budget is realized, it would only cover half a percent of the country's unfinished projects. Mohammad Reza Mir Taj al-Dini, a former member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, announced in October this year that 4,000 trillion tomans are needed to complete unfinished construction projects.