President Ahmadinejad: Iran’s new budget reduces oil revenue reliance

Iran’s president says the government’s proposed budget for the coming Iranian calendar year (starting March 21) foresees a decrease in dependence on oil revenues in order to counter the Western sanctions.

In an interview with the IRIB on Saturday, Ahmadinejad said the government has reduced reliance on oil revenues and the amount of crude to be extracted and sold in the draft budget, expected to be handed to Majlis (parliament) on Wednesday.

Ahmadinejad said the country seeks to undertake greater efforts to increase its non-oil revenues.

“With this rate of growth, we really will not need foreign currency oil revenues in the current sense to suitably run our economy,” Ahmadinejad said.

“Next year’s revenues from non-oil exports and technical-engineering services will definitely reach USD 75 billion,” he added.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of a potential agenda to pursue non-civilian objectives under the cover of its nuclear energy program.

Over the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed several rounds of illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

On February 6, the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil revenue. The sanctions prevent Tehran from gaining access to its crude exports earnings.

The sanctions require the importing countries to keep their payments at home and only release them in return for purchases of goods by Iran, effectively locking up Iranian oil revenue overseas.

Iran refutes the allegations over its nuclear program, arguing that as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.