The parliament will not support a bill to increase the price of energy carriers in the next Iranian calendar year (March 2015-2016) if the requisite economic underpinnings are not provided by the government, said Nader Fereydouni, head of the Majlis oil and gas committee, Mizan news agency reported.
“An increase in the price of energy carries should be in tandem with infrastructure development,” he said, underlining the price of energy carriers as a prerequisite for economic growth.
“Certainly, a low price of energy carriers will render the economic growth target impossible, but, this does not mean the government can increase prices without making the necessary preparations,” said Fereydouni. He stressed that inflation has caused serious problems and an increase in the price of energy carriers would further aggravate the situation.
“The public is not prepared for another price hike and the government should back down from its decision.” He insisted that increasing the price of energy carriers, especially diesel fuel, would push up the price of almost all consumer goods.
Meanwhile, an economist and faculty member at the Allameh Tabatabai University of Iran predicted that the price of energy carriers could increase by 10-15 percent in the next phase of Iran’s subsidy reform plan.
“Considering the current recession, the price of subsidized gasoline could reach up to 24 cents per liter,” Alireza Pourfaraj was quoted by ISNA as saying. The government offers subsidized gasoline with a quota of 60 liters per month for private cars with engines of below 2,000cc for around 21 cents per liter.
Under a five-year plan started in December 2010, and promoted as an “economic revolution” by former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran began slashing three-decades-old subsidies on energy carriers and food items, replacing them with cash payments.
