Azernews.Az

Current year's budget is too optimistic, so the next administration should revise it, economic advisor to the president-elect Mohammad Bagher Nobakht Haghighi said, Mehr News Agency reported.

The budget should be based on realistic figures and in line with the government's revenues and expenses, he said.

"As far as I know, the government managed to secure only 44 percent of the country's assigned budget in the first quarter of the current year," he empahsized.

Nobakht, also the secretary general for Moderation and Development Party, went on to note that once the next administration is formed, it will study the country's budget and announce its stance.

Previously some MPs had requested for an amendment to the budget bill.

A conservative MP Ahmad Tavakoli had said that the current year's budget is not realistic and may result in even higher inflation.

The Iranian parliament approved the current year's 7.270 quadrillion rials budget bill in May.

170 MPs voted in favor, 8 against, and 7 abstained.

In February, the Iranian administration submitted the budget bill to the parliament. Iran set oil price at $95 in the budget bill. The proposed budget increased by 22 percent compared to the year before.

According to the ILNA News Agency, the development budget reduced by 20 trillion rials (about $1.6 billion) compared to the previous year.

The bill was prepared considering the effects of international economic sanctions, so that the reliance of the national budget to oil revenues was reduced, ILNA quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying.

Mohammad Bagher Nobakht Haghighi was the spokesman for Hassan Rouhani presidential campaign. He is also deputy head of Economic Research Department at the Center for Strategic Research, a think tank led by Rouhani.

Following Rouhani's election, Nobakht was appointed as the president's liaison to the legislative branch led by Ali Ardashir Larijani, with the mandate to "establish communication and moderation" between the two branches of government. Larijani appointed Mohammad-Reza Bahonar as Nobakht's counterpart.