Iranian Parliament Presses Government over Economic Performance

Iran

June 3rd, 10:49am

London - Asharq Al-Awsat

The Chairman of the Planning and Budget Organization Mohammad Bagher Nobakht addresses the Iranian parliament,Icana News

Conservative MPs summoned Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati and the Chairman of the Planning and Budget Organization, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, for grilling, starting a pressure campaign against the government’s economic performance. This coincided with a devaluation of the local currency and fears of renewed pressures on living conditions. The deputies criticized the government's economic policies. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf criticized the government for implementing the "resistance economy" policy, which Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei insists on applying to confront US sanctions. Agencies quoted Ghalibaf acknowledging that oil is a means to pressure Iran, and with sanctions in place, the country must be managed without oil revenues. Hemmati, defending his performance before parliament, highlighted the pressure imposed by US sanctions and the novel coronavirus, saying it affected the currency exchange market and markets in general. “The sanctions have had a major impact on the indicators of economic growth,” Hemmati said. Iran used to have some $107 billion of oil revenues per year nine years ago while in 2019 the figure fell to less than 20% of those figures, the official said. Hemmati stated that countries that have friendly relations with Iran, such as South Korea and Iraq, did not allow Iran to gain access to its financial assets due to the American pressure. The CBI governor said that the past year "was one of the most difficult years after the 1979 revolution." "The sanctions during the past two years were unprecedented and smart," Hemmati added, explaining that the US "used all means to prevent Iran from external resources and obstructed all banking windows and Iranian exports." Contrary to Hemmati’s statements, Nobakht highlighted to the MPs that Iran had obtained $8.9 billion in oil and gas resources this year. Requesting postponement and a closed session, Nobakht refused to lay out losses for this fiscal year.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2315476/iranian-parliament-presses-government-over-economic-performance