Iran passes budget with reduced oil revenue

TEHRAN — Iran has approved its budget for the next fiscal year with oil accounting for just a quarter of revenue after a global fall in crude prices, local media said Tuesday.

The text was approved Monday by the Guardians Council and sent to parliament, just days before the March 21 deadline, the Iranian New Year. The final budget is around 8,500 trillion riyals ($297 billion, 280 billion euros) according to Tasnim news agency, which published the outline of the text without providing details on oil revenues.

"The weight of oil in the budget has dropped significantly and now reaches 25 per cent while it was 50 per cent over the last three years," parliament speaker Ali Larijani indicated Monday.

He added that the budget was "disconnected" to oil prices. Larijani noted that the oil price per barrel was calculated at a minimum of $40, against a government forecast in December of $72 per barrel.

If prices rise above $40 per barrel in the second half of the year, the surplus revenue would be invested in infrastructure projects, he said. Iran's oil ministry said crude has averaged $44 a barrel since the start of the year.