Iran Slashes Budget Spending as U.S. Sanctions Crush Oil Sales

(Bloomberg) -- The government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani approved a substantially smaller budget for the next fiscal year as it cuts spending under the weight of crippling U.S. sanctions, especially on its oil exports.

The proposed budget was set at the rial equivalent of about $37 billion at the dollar’s widely used unofficial rate, state television said on Wednesday. That’s less than a third of what was allocated for the 12 months ending March 20.

In July, officials said they would plan the country’s next budget without including income from oil, the nation’s single-largest source of income over the last few decades.

To contact the reporter on this story: Arsalan Shahla in Tehran at ashahla@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams

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