VOL. XLNo. 53-February-1997

IRAN

Iranian Parliament Approves Record 1997-98 Budget

On 22 January the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) approved the budget billfor 1376 (which starts on 21 March 1997) projecting record total expenditureof IR188,700bn ($107.8bn at the official exchange rate of $1 = IR1,750),slightly higher than the proposed figure of IR188,150bn ($107.5bn) in thedraft budget, which was presented to parliament on 24 November 1996 byPresident Hashemi Rafsanjani. The budget represents an...