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Avoiding Short-Run
Panacea
In order to
improve the structure of the national budget, politicians should approve of
expert advice when drawing up the budget agenda – uninfluenced by political
considerations.
Dr. Hassan Sobhani, Member of Parliament
from Damghan and member of the Budget, Planning and Evaluations Committee of
Parliament, believes that since budget deficit has always been one of
government’s major problems, the 2003 budget forecast must carefully and
correctly consider earnings and place emphasis on the reduction of the state’s
current expenditure.
Since there are numerous unfinished
construction projects, the completion of these must be expedited, especially
in the area of water and agriculture.
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"The
budget management system must move in the direction of change and
gradually come to possess fewer restrictions." |
Other priorities which
should be carefully considered for the 2003 budget include provision of state
expenditure from tax revenues and prevention of borrowing either on the
national level – through the distribution of stocks – or from international
markets. Improvement in budget structure plays a central role in adjustment of
the state budget and is not a matter which may be concluded by holding
sessions on implementation of regulations, rather it must be resolved through
expert assistance and consideration of economic and social realities.
Experts must understand the issues involved
realistically and put forward their proposals within the framework of the
budget. Politicians on the other hand are obliged to approve the proposals
without bringing political issues into the picture.
State companies follow their own particular
rules and regulations but when possible the state must hand over these
companies to the private sector, and the companies that ought to stay within
the government have to take a more defensive stance by being made more
resourceful and structured through implementation of tougher regulations
related to their financial organizations, improvement of efficiency and by
taking a more active role in increasing their stock profits and tax payment.
To prevent budget
deficits, the government earnings must be forecasted on a more pragmatic basis
and there should be attempts to find new and sensible sources of income. The
government must identify and utilize new and untapped tax resources –
disregarded due to bureaucracy or other reasons. The current construction
expenditure of the government must be classified and prioritized to help
increase the state's general budget in line with realistic earnings – or if
that is not the case reduce spending by abandoning low priority projects. In
this way a logical balance can be achieved between earnings and expenditure
and budget deficits will be avoided.
Currently, total expenditure is four times
more than construction expenditure within the government’s general budget.
Steps have to be taken to alter this imbalance in favor of construction
expenditure.
Iran’s budget management system has been rigid and authoritarian
in the past decades and it must change and get stripped of it restrictions. It
must not allow the Iranian economy to be under state influence either. Rules
and regulations must be enacted to prevent public savings from becoming
available to state companies so that the government may gradually find its
foothold and become capable of managing the economy of the country. |
