IMF: Iran needs oil price at $ 195 to adjust its budget
Iran will need an oil price of $ 194.6 a barrel to balance its budget next year, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.
” Iran is expected to post a deficit of 4.5 percent this year and 5.1 percent next year,” the IMF said in a report seen by Alsumaria News . ” Iran will need an oil price of $ 194.6 a barrel to balance its budget.” Next year”has seen a rise in oil revenues after a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers ended a three-year-old sanctions regime over its disputed nuclear program.
But the new sanctions imposed by Washington after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the deal in 2018 are the most damaging US sanctions.
The International Monetary Fund said Iran ‘s economy is expected to contract 9.5 percent this year, compared with a 6 percent contraction in an earlier estimate, but real GDP growth is expected to remain stable next year.
The retreat of the Iranian currency, after the reimposition of sanctions, has hindered Iran ‘s foreign trade and boosted annual inflation, which the IMF expects to reach 35.7 percent this year and 31 percent next year.
Azour said Iranian authorities should reconcile the official exchange rate with the market rate to control inflation.
The IMF predicted exports of Iranian goods and services to fall to $ 60.3 billion this year from $ 103.2 billion last year, and to see a further decline in 2020 to $ 55.5 billion.