Iran Parliament approves $347-billion budget

Iran's Parliament on Monday approved the budget for the year ending March 2011, allocating $347 billion to the government based on an oil price of 65 dollars a barrel.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had put forward a 368.4-billion-dollar plan in January, based on an oil price of 60 dollars a barrel, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

According to IRNA, lawmakers approved the general outlines of the budget, with 151 of the 225 representatives present on Monday voting for and 62 against the bill.

Based on the budget, the government plans to start a major plan to scrap costly subsidies on energy and goods, reducing government expenditure.

President Ahmadinejad had asked for 40 billion dollars in the budget from scrapping the subsidies. However, lawmakers seem to have cut that estimation in half.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120362§ionid=351020102.