Iran: Parliament Finds President’s Office Misused Billions

The Iranian Parliament’s review of government budget reports for the past year reveals that the Ahmadinejad administration has “failed to deposit $12 billion of oil revenues in the treasury and used it to cover its budget shortages.”

The Mehr News Agency reports that the administration has violated legislation by using the revenues that were supposed to be deposited in the country’s reserves to overcome the government’s budget shortages.

Parliament cited further financial violations by the Ahmadinejad administration in today’s report.

It was first reported in 2008 that the Ahmadinejad administration had not deposited $1 billion in oil revenues in the national treasury. While the head of Parliament, Ali Larijani, called for an inquiry into the matter, no concrete action was taken.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become the target of severe criticism for his mishandling of the country’s economy, which is now burdened with high inflation and unemployment and a falling national currency.

Despite the unwarranted use of oil revenues, the Ahmadinejad administration is reportedly facing a budget shortage of 740 trillion rials.