A senior Iranian lawmaker underlined the positive outcomes of sanctions and pressures on Iranian economy and oil sector, saying that pressures and embargos pave the way for Iran to end its dependence on oil revenues.
“The sanctions imposed on us have created an opportunity to prepare the ground for cutting the connection between the (country’s) budget and oil (revenues),” Vice-Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard said at an economic conference here in Tehran on Wednesday.
He stressed that Iran should take proper measures to gradually reduce reliance oil revenues and the cut it completely in the next year budget given the growing threats posed by the West.
Meantime, Iran’s First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said yesterday that the country plans to boost its non-oil exports to $70bln in the next Iranian year (starts on March 20).
“The government targets $70 billion of non-oil exports in 1391 (March 20, 2012-March 20, 2013),” Rahimi said in an economic conference here in Tehran on Tuesday.
In March 2011, a senior Iranian economic official announced that the country plans to boost its non-oil exports to $301 billion within the next five years.
Iranian Deputy Commerce Minister Hamid Safdel stated at the time that Iran’s non-oil exports, excluding gas condensates, will reach $301 billion in a five-year period.
