Iran's Guardians Council, the body charged with assuring that legislation conforms to Islamic law, on Jan. 13 approved President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's "Economic Reform Plan [2]," which will remove subsidies on oil, electricity, water and basic foods. The Majlis, Iran's parliament, passed the bill last week, following controversy with Ahmadinejad, who sought to distribute a portion of the anticipated $100 billion in annual savings (some 30% of the total government budget) to Iran's poor through government-sponsored savings accounts. Opposition lawmakers wanted all Iranians to benefit from the savings, and sought greater oversight of the funds. Under a compromise, the Supreme Iranian Audit Court will oversee the accounts. (RFE/RL [3], The Majlis [4] blog, Jan. 14; Zawya [5], Jan. 6; Press TV [6], Jan. 5; Tehran Times [7], Jan. 4; Press TV [8], Jan. 3)
The lifting of the subsidies is widely seen as a response to the falling price of oil [9].
See our last post on Iran [10].
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