Ahmadinejad: Low oil prices will not hurt Iran
Published: Sunday, November 23, 2008
21:00GMT—4:00PM/EST
AHMADINEJAD – OIL – PRICES
Washington, 23 November (IranVNC)—Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today said that a drop in the price of oil will not hurt his country, and that the Islamic Republic could get by with oil priced as low as five dollars per barrel, the semi-official ISNA news agency reports.
“As I said, at one time, this country was run with an oil price of eight dollars [per barrel] and 10 dollars. Right here, I announce that we can also run our country with an oil price of eight dollars and five dollars,” the agency quoted Ahmadinejad as telling reporters on the sidelines of a media convention in Tehran.
He added: “We can provide for our needs from within. Therefore, no considerable problems will arise.”
Iran is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, and oil revenues account for an estimated 80% of that country’s foreign exchange revenues. Oil prices hit record highs of $147 per barrel last July, but have since fallen nearly two-thirds, to $50.
Ahmadinejad went on to say that with the implantation of his government’s proposed “economic reform plan”, Iran would be insulated against the fluctuations in the price of oil.
Under the proposed plan, the government would cease subsidizing some goods and distribute other subsidies directly. He did not give details on how the plan would shelter Iran’s economy from a drop in oil prices.
Last week, Hojjatoleslam Hasan Rohani, a vocal critic of Ahmadinejad’s economic policies, slammed the government over its use of the country’s oil revenues, and said that Iran’s dependence on oil revenues stifled opportunities in other areas of the economy, Iran’s Labor News Agency, ILNA, reported on 18 November.
Rohani is the head of the Center for Strategic Studies at Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council and a member of the Assembly of Experts.
In August, the International Monetary Fund [IMF] said in a report that Iran’s medium-term prospects for growth were “very sensitive” to oil prices.
Sources: ISNA in Persian, ILNA in Persian
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