He presents it as a "Budget of resistance and perseverance" against the asphyxiating sanctions imposed by the United States. "This budget announces to the world that despite the sanctions we will be able to manage the country, especially in the oil field"said Iranian President Hassan Rohani, whose country is a member of OPEC, in statements broadcast by state radio.
The budget for the year beginning at the end of March 2020 was announced a few weeks after a sharp increase in fuel prices that triggered protest demonstrations in mid-November marked by deadly violence.
Increase in public salaries
Mr. Rohani justified this increase by explaining that the state had no other solution to better help the "Middle and low income families suffering from the economic situation created by the sanctions" US.
In his speech to Parliament on Sunday, Rohani announced a 15% increase in public sector wages.
The unilateral withdrawal of the United States in 2018 from the international nuclear agreement reached in Iran in 2015, and the re-establishment in the wake of heavy US sanctions against Tehran have plunged the Iranian economy into a violent recession. The International Monetary Fund estimates that Iran's GDP is expected to fall by 9.5 percent this year.
