Bloated Public Sector Criticized

Some 40% of the workforce in the public sector are either in excess or incompetent, according to presidential advisor, Mohammad Ali Najafi.

“This lowers productivity. The nepotistic hiring of under-motivated staff has deteriorated conditions in governmental organizations,” he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

According to Najafi, in Iran Khordo, Iran’s biggest and oldest auto manufacturer, for instance, some 12,000 surplus staff have been employed.

The new budget bill President Hassan Rouhani submitted to the parliament earlier this month stipulates 7.5 quadrillion rials (about $187.5 billion at market exchange rates) for governmental companies, banks and institutions in the upcoming fiscal year (to start March 2017).

The figure shows an over 10% increase compared to the current year’s budget.

First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri has censured the large size of the government, blaming it for the disarray in state finances.

According to Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi, the head of Majlis Economic Commission, the current year’s budget saw a 430-trillion-rial ($10.7 billion) deficit during the first six months.