Iran: Narrowing Budget Deficit Ups Development Spending by 70%

Iran's government spent 316.3 trillion rials ($5.27 billion) on development projects in the first 11 months of the last fiscal year (March 21, 2017-Feb. 19), 70.1% more than the similar period of the year before.
This is much lower than the target of 657 trillion rials ($10.95 billion) set in the Budget Law, according to the latest report by the Central Bank of Iran. 
The government had to issue 97.6% more bonds during the 11 months compared with the corresponding period of the year before to cover its budget deficit of 331.3 trillion rials ($5.52 billion). As much as 620.4 trillion rials ($10.34 billion) worth of bonds were issued during the period under review.
The government's huge budget deficit, which had led to underinvestment in Iran’s development projects, is narrowing since the 10th month of the Iranian year ending Jan. 20. 
CBI figures show the budget earmarked for the development sector has never been fully allocated in the past few years, as the government failed to materialize the projected revenues.