Wednesday
Oct282009
Iran: Are There Billions of Dollars Missing?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 9:49
The Latest from Iran (28 October): No Lull
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Rooz Online and The Inquistr website are featuring a report by Iran's State Audit Organization which found discrepancies of $66 billion in Government accounts, an amount equivalent to Iran’s average annual oil revenues.
The basics of the report were revealed months ago, but the extent of the missing funds came out Monday in Farda News, which is linked to Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.
The largest of the budget discrepancies concern $35 billion of imported goods. Iran’s Central Bank reported almost $220 billion in purchases between 2005 and 2008, but Custom documents only $185 billion of goods arriving in the country. There are also gaps between reported revenue through exports of oil and other goods and deposits in the country’s central bank. Iran’s oil ministry recorded $255 billion from oil sales between 2005 and 2008, but Iran’s Central Bank reported receipt of $280 billion.
How should the "missing" billions be interpreted? Dr Seyed Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran contends that the amount is due to a dispute between the Ministry of Oil and the auditors over "different ways of carrying out their auditing". Dr Emanuele Ottolenghi, a fervent critic of the regime, claims that the cause is "economic mismanagement" with "liberal use of state revenue to fund activities that are not necessarily audited, such as nuclear procurement, terrorism and funding insurgencies abroad".
Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis
Rooz Online and The Inquistr website are featuring a report by Iran's State Audit Organization which found discrepancies of $66 billion in Government accounts, an amount equivalent to Iran’s average annual oil revenues.The basics of the report were revealed months ago, but the extent of the missing funds came out Monday in Farda News, which is linked to Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.
The largest of the budget discrepancies concern $35 billion of imported goods. Iran’s Central Bank reported almost $220 billion in purchases between 2005 and 2008, but Custom documents only $185 billion of goods arriving in the country. There are also gaps between reported revenue through exports of oil and other goods and deposits in the country’s central bank. Iran’s oil ministry recorded $255 billion from oil sales between 2005 and 2008, but Iran’s Central Bank reported receipt of $280 billion.
How should the "missing" billions be interpreted? Dr Seyed Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran contends that the amount is due to a dispute between the Ministry of Oil and the auditors over "different ways of carrying out their auditing". Dr Emanuele Ottolenghi, a fervent critic of the regime, claims that the cause is "economic mismanagement" with "liberal use of state revenue to fund activities that are not necessarily audited, such as nuclear procurement, terrorism and funding insurgencies abroad".