Rouhani's Government Sends Two-Month Budget Bill for 1395 to Parliament

On Wednesday, March 10, the Iranian government, led by Hassan Rouhani, approved a two-month budget bill for the first two months of the year 1395 (2016). According to the IRNA news agency, this bill was approved with urgency and submitted to the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament). Previously, parliament representatives had stated that since the government did not deliver the budget bill for the year 1395 on time, it was obligated to submit a multi-twelfths bill to cover its expenses at the beginning of the year. Ahmad Tavakoli, a representative from Tehran, mentioned to the IRIB news agency that according to Article 188 of the internal regulations of the parliament, the government is required to present a multi-twelfths bill. On March 6, Hassan Rouhani stated in a press conference that if the parliament could not provide the final approval of the bill to the government by the end of the year for any reason, the government could present a multi-twelfths bill. What was approved on Wednesday by the cabinet was the two-twelfths bill for the year 1395. The review of the budget bill for 1395 had been postponed until after the elections held on March 7, which some representatives believed did not give them enough time for proper review. On March 17, Mohammad Reza Pourabrahimi, the spokesperson for the Joint Commission of Parliament for reviewing the next year's budget, stated that the commission would complete its review of the budget bill by the end of March, but its approval in parliament would take until late April or early May. It is noteworthy that none of the members of the Joint Commission were able to win votes in the 10th parliamentary elections. Earlier, Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, a representative from Tehran and a member of the Planning and Budget Commission, announced that the government wishes for the parliament to approve the budget in full, which he did not consider advisable. From March 19 until the end of the year, there are only five working days left for representatives to vote on the government's two-twelfths budget bill. The Iranian parliament is expected to make a decision on this bill by next Tuesday.