Mehdi Taqiyani says the government is indirectly borrowing to cover the budget deficit
Mehdi Taqiyani has announced that this year’s government budget deficit is at least 250 trillion tomans and has stated that this deficit, along with the surge in exchange rates and increased production costs, are among the factors contributing to the rise in inflation rate in the current year 1401 (2022-2023).
The Statistical Center of Iran has announced the annual inflation rate for February as 47.7 percent, although independent sources believe the actual inflation rate in Iran is much higher.
Regarding the government’s borrowing, Taqiyani has said that the government has not borrowed directly. There are some indirect debts that the government utilizes.
For example, part of the debt to pension funds is transferred to banks, or part of the guaranteed purchases that cannot be paid within the budget is transferred to the Agricultural Bank. This means these costs are paid from the banking system and transferred to the Central Bank, which is a form of indirect borrowing.
The government of Ebrahim Raisi has, in some cases, denied borrowing from the Central Bank.
