Iran MPs yet to agree on subsidy bill details

While Iran's parliament has reached consensus on one article of a subsidy reform plan, which would slash energy subsidies, lawmakers failed to agree on other details of the bill.

Majlis on Monday began discussing details of a subsidy bill, one day after the outline of the plan was approved.

Lawmakers reached an agreement on an article, which would gradually cut energy subsidies over the space of five years. The approval of the article would bring the heavily-subsidized fuel prices closer to international market prices.

Lawmakers amended the article so that the government would not be allowed to enforce a cut in energy and food subsidies in a period less than five years.

However, Majlis failed to agree on the rest of the 17-article bill. Lawmakers will continue to discuss details of the bill in a Tuesday session.

Under the current fuel rationing system, introduced two years ago, subsidized gasoline is priced at $0.10 per liter and is sold at $0.40 per liter on the free market.

Despite sitting on huge oil reserves, Iran still imports about 40 percent of its gasoline due to insufficient refining capacity. The country, however, plans to construct new refineries and modernize existing ones to reach self-sufficiency.