Official: Government trying to ease sanctions hardship
The head of Iran’s Plan and Budget Organization, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, said on Saturday that the government is doing its utmost to overcome the hardships created by the US reimposition of sanctions on the country.
“We are trying to weather the difficult situation through mutual cooperation and take further measures to supply people’s needs,” Nobakht told reporters in Tehran, ISNA reported.
He said the US had waged an “inhumane and disproportionate war” on Iran by imposing sanctions after pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May.
“Unfortunately, the cruel sanctions have affected economic indices,” Nobakht said.
The official, however, pointed out that Iran would “win this cruel economic war” via resistance.
He said the government had allocated $14 billion for importing basic commodities for the next Iranian calendar year, starting March 21.
Nobakht predicted that Iran’s forex income would decline by 22 percent, to $21 billion from this year’s $27 billion.
“We hope the government would not face a budget deficit next year,” he said.
US President Donald Trump reinstated unilateral sanctions last May after leaving the Iran nuclear deal. The sanctions have shaken the economy and pushed the Iranian currency, the rial, to record lows, disrupting foreign trade and helping boost annual inflation.