Iran’s Minister of the Economy says the budget for the coming year will be revised to base it on an oil price of $40 a barrel. The Iranian calendar year begin on March 21.
The Fars News Agency reports that Ali Tayyebnia announced that his ministry is revising the earlier budget that was based on revenues from $70-a-barrel oil. Last year’s budget was based on a price of $100 a barrel.
The price of oil has been on a steep slide in world markets since last summer, having dropped by 60% in the past six months.
The Minister of the Economy maintained that the fall in the price of oil is engineered to put “Iran and Russia under pressure”.
In recent weeks, several Iranian figures have referred to the role of Saudi Arabia in causing the drop in the price of oil. Saudis have resisted suggestions from other OPEC members such as Iran and Venezuela to reduce oil production.