The Iranian government had access to more than $7 billion worth of crude export revenues in the calendar year to late March, says a report published in the local media which indicates that the income helped the government avoid a hefty budget deficit which could exacerbate consumer price rises in the country.

The Tuesday report by the semi-official Fars news agency said that Iranian Oil Ministry had met a budget target of 1,990 trillion rials ($7.37 billion) set for crude exports revenues for the Persian calendar year 1400.

The report cited a recent statement by the Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji which showed that oil export revenues had even exceeded the budget target by 10%.

That comes as the Iranian parliament’s research center had anticipated a budget deficit of 2,270 trillion rials for the year to late March as a result of low crude sales reported in the quarter to late May 2021

The report by Fars said that a 40% growth in oil exports reported in the second half of the last calendar year, which took place when a new administrative government took office in Tehran, had helped offset the losses suffered in oil sales in early 2021.

It said the rise in oil exports meant that Iran had sold an average of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude over the year to March.

Government statements and media reports have suggested that Iran’s oil exports rose to around 1.5 million bpd in late 2021 and stayed at the same levels in early 2022.

That has come despite a campaign of maximum economic pressure imposed by the United States on Iran since 2018 to force the country into a series of political and military concessions.

 

 

By PRESS TV