Parliament Mulling Feasibility of Economic Reform Plan

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian Parliament has raised serious questions about an economic reform plan proposed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Parliament has set up a special commission to review President Ahmadinejad’s economic plan, which aims to tackle the country’s root economic problems, including rising inflation, and protecting the deprived members of society.

President Ahmadinejad has set up a special working group to consider the details of the reform plan.

According to a press tv report, the special commission issued a report on Tuesday commenting on details of the economic plan, which introduces reforms in several issues, including banking, tax, subsidy, customs and national currency systems.

The special commission called on the president to reconsider the feasibility of the plan regarding the improvement of the household per capita income, the value of national currency and economic growth.

The report also raised questions about the funding of the plan and whether it would be implemented in several stages.

The special commission further stressed that priority should be given to government plans aimed at reforming the subsidy system.

The government has recently distributed questionnaires in a bid to gather information about each household’s per capita income to aid the government in introducing new regulations on the country’s subsidization system, which is to be submitted to the parliament for approval.

President Ahmadinejad has proposed three possible models as part of the government’s plan to reform the subsidy system, the report said, without elaborating on the details of the models.

The commission called on the president to avoid making “hasty decisions” regarding the plan, saying further negotiations were needed between the special commission and the presidential working group.