The economic future of Iran depends on a new regime founded on freedom and democracy. The (NCRI) and  (PMOI / MEK Iran) offer a democratic alternative to the clerical dictatorship that has failed the Iranian people.

The regime’s latest budget document has created a storm of criticism on state-run media and triggered a new round of public debate on budget structure reform. Economic experts, including some within the regime, have publicly acknowledged that the country’s failing economy is largely due to government incompetence and corruption, with international sanctions as a secondary factor.

Lack of a Plan in Government

Critics of the current budget structure say that the document is intentionally confusing and past reforms have done little to make the document functional. On November 23, regime economist Bijan Abdi spoke about the problem to the Radar-e-Eghtesadi website.

“What was done in the government and the management and planning organization to reform and clarify the budget was a series of words that were of no use to anyone. Words that one thinks are mostly sham, and by presenting forty, fifty pages, they got rid of useless words,” he said.

“The serious problems we had in the budgets of the last two years in the last two governments were that in practice the government did not believe in planning and did not do the rights things, what the parliament approved, while the deviation of the government from the approved budgets and programs is so great, that the lack of a plan for the government does not make much difference,” Abdi added.

The Farhikhtegan website argued on October 15 that the budget document is riddled with flaws that severely impact the economy, but no one has taken the time to address the issues. The website wrote: “Reference to this budget document and review of its various clauses clearly shows that from beginning to end it is full of small and big problems, each of which is the source of one of the most important problems in the economy and of course people’s daily lives. In a way, it is sometimes surprising why these issues exist in the country’s budget but have not been corrected over the years.”

The most obvious reason the budget hasn’t been meaningfully reformed is that those who are tasked with the document do not suffer from its flaws. While the vast majority of Iranians are suffering under the current economic climate, those in power profit from government corruption and have no vested interest in improving the standard of living for the rest of the population. Under the mullahs’ rule, the Iranian middle-class has disappeared, and only those who work within the regime have access to the country’s wealth. The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran) has gained many of its followers in Iran because of its vow to allow a free market and end the plundering of the Iranian people’s wealth and resources.

No Transparency

State-owned companies make up between 65 to 75 percent of the total budget for 2020. This amounts to three times the number allocated to the general budget. The details of the allocations for state-owned companies are almost entirely opaque. Audits, tax-rates, and budget lines are unavailable, even to members of Majlis (parliament).

Farhikhtegan described this level of transparency as “almost none.” The website added, “We say this means that the least transparency, the least oversight, and the lowest tax payments are for the largest part of the budget. The referral to the MPs was followed by only one answer, ‘Basically, the MPs do not have the opportunity to review these sections! If you hear it, you must be surprised, ‘The share of collections that account for 75 percent of the country’s budget is only 3.5 percent of the tax paid.”

Numerous critics have called attention to the regime’s broken budgetary and economic system, but no changes have been made. The problems with Iran’s economy will not end with Hassan Rouhani or the next administration. The regime’s own economic advisors admit that the budget structure has remained largely the same for many years.

The economic future of Iran depends on a new regime founded on freedom and democracy. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran) offer a democratic alternative to the clerical dictatorship that has failed the Iranian people.

and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube