Parliament approved on Saturday an item in the state budget for the Iranian year starting on March 21, which allows the oil ministry to issue $3 billion worth of the rial and foreign-currency-denominated bonds, SHANA said. Under another budget line passed on Saturday, the ministry can issue up to 50 trillion rials ($1.5 billion) worth of the bonds, it added.
According to the text of the proposed budget, the $3 billion in bonds are to be used to repay ministry debts for existing projects and the $1.5 billion bonds are to be used to finance new oil and gas projects. After being passed by parliament, the entire budget has to approved by a clerical body that vets legislation before it becomes law.
Copyright Reuters, 2017