Iran parliament approves $347b budget

TEHRAN (AFP) - Irans conservative-dominated parliament on Monday approved a 347-billion-dollar budget for the year to March 2011 based on an oil price of 65 dollars a barrel, news agencies reported.
The approved budget is less than the 368.4-billion-dollar plan put forward by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for parliamentary approval in January.
ISNA news agency reported that of the 225 lawmakers present on Monday, 151 voted for the budget, 62 against and 12 abstentions. The lawmakers approved the outlines of the budget for the year to March 2011, ISNA said.
Nejads budget plan of $368.4b was based on an oil price of 60 dollars a barrel. The approved bill is significantly higher than the $298b plan for the current Iranian year ending March 20.
Iran earns 80 percent of its total revenues from oil exports.
The budget for the year to March 2011 is also marked by the start of a major plan to scrap costly subsidies on energy and goods, reducing government expenditure.
Ahmadinejad had estimated gains of 40 billion dollars in the year to March 2011 from scrapping these subsidies.
But lawmaker Mohammad Mahdi Mofateh said that this revenue has been cut to 20 billion dollars in the approved budget, given the inflationary impact of the subsidy scrapping plan.
Economists have strongly criticised Ahmadinejad for policies they say have created a highly inflationary economy since his first term began in 2005.
MPs had previously approved Ahmadinejads plan to scrap the subsidies which directly and indirectly cost the government as much as 100 billion dollars a year.
Removing the subsidies will happen gradually, with the process due to conclude by the end of the countrys fifth five-year development plan in March 2015.