Submission of the 2016 Budget Bill to Parliament

Hours after the joint statement from Iran and the European Union regarding the completion of the JCPOA in Vienna, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, on Sunday, January 17, presented the budget bill for the year 1395 (2016) and the sixth development plan to the Parliament. The volume of the 2016 budget, which is the first post-JCPOA budget, is 952 trillion tomans, equivalent to about 300 billion dollars. Mr. Rouhani explained the reason for the delay in presenting these bills to Parliament, stating that considering the upcoming announcement of the JCPOA's implementation, the government deemed it appropriate to submit this bill after the lifting of sanctions. In the budget bill for the coming year, the exchange rate of each dollar is calculated at 2997 tomans. According to Fars News Agency, the share of oil in the budget is twenty-five percent, and the oil share in the revenues of the 2016 budget is forecasted to grow by seventeen percent to 66 trillion tomans. Given the fluctuations in oil markets over the past year, the budget bill sets the price of each barrel of oil between 35 to 40 dollars. In his speech to Parliament, Mr. Rouhani identified the main economic orientations of the government in the post-JCPOA era as attracting foreign investment. The President of Iran announced monetary stabilization policies and an increase in the volume of government construction investments as other orientations of the government in the 2016 budget. Mr. Rouhani mentioned that one of the sources of funding for construction costs would be the issuance of government bonds. He promised government employees that their salaries would increase within the framework of the next year's budget. The total public resources of the upcoming budget are projected to be 267 trillion tomans, with a thirteen percent growth compared to the current year. According to parliamentary regulations, due to the delay in the timely submission of the budget bill to Parliament, the government is obliged to present a partial budget to Parliament. The Speaker of Parliament expressed hope that the Parliament could review and decide on the budget bill as soon as possible and by the end of the current year.