Middle East Economic Survey

VOL. LIII

No 52

27-Dec-2010

IRAN

Iranian Government Implements Subsidy Cuts

In an evening televised interview on 18 December President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his government, after more than a year of heated wrangling with the Majlis, had decided to implement the first stage of a five-year plan to phase out state subsidies that are costing the national budget approximately $100bn/year. In a bid to avoid long lines at gasoline stations while also...