Lawmakers agreed on Sunday to allocate 4,000 billion rials (about $148 million based on official exchange rate) from next year’s budget to the empowerment of the private and cooperative sectors, IRNA reported on Sunday. The decision was made in an open parliamentary session held to discuss the details of the government’s expenditures in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (to start March 21). Earlier on Wednesday, Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, Ali Rabie called for the development of the cooperative sector in line with the policies of “resistance economy”, noting that cooperatives have “the potential to improve living standards.”
