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Teheran Dollar Spill

Iranian income from oil sales this year will probably total less than half of what the government originally expected to collect—$10 billion instead of $22 billion—according to Iranian Central Bank Chairman Ali Reza Nowahari. This new prediction was made despite a claim by the oil ministry that exports have increased by 25 per cent in the last month through sales to Spain, Turkey, and Bulgaria. Nowahari said the loss would contribute further to inflation in Iran which, stimulated anyway by political uncertainty, has led to a loss of 60 per cent in the purchasing power of those on fixed incomes. He also said there would be a budget deficit this year, the present budget of $40 billion being higher than what the country can possibly expect in revenues. The Central Bank, meanwhile, has been under fire from religious authorities for continuing to harbor those who supported the Shah. The clergy also complain that because of the interest rates it charges, the bank is un-Islamic.

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Teheran Dollar Spill

Iranian income from oil sales this year will probably total less than half of what the government originally expected to collect—$10 billion instead of $22 billion—according to Iranian Central Bank Chairman Ali Reza Nowahari. This new prediction was made despite a claim by the oil ministry that exports have increased by 25 per cent in the last month through sales to Spain, Turkey, and Bulgaria. Nowahari said the loss would contribute further to inflation in Iran which, stimulated anyway by political uncertainty, has led to a loss of 60 per cent in the purchasing power of those on fixed incomes. He also said there would be a budget deficit this year, the present budget of $40 billion being higher than what the country can possibly expect in revenues. The Central Bank, meanwhile, has been under fire from religious authorities for continuing to harbor those who supported the Shah. The clergy also complain that because of the interest rates it charges, the bank is un-Islamic.