Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force, reported that Ali Tayyebnia, Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs, referred to aspects of the current crisis engulfing the country’s banking system and President Hassan Rouhani’s inability in resolving the crises saying that “the banks cannot be the necessary source for production”.  

The $30 billion debt of Rouhani’s government to the country’s banking system is so large that it eclipses the total income envisioned from the sale of oil in the current Persian year’s governmental budget.

In this budget the income from oil is calculated at $25 billion and premised on the idea that the government can raise its daily oil export to around 1.74 million barrels and that the average price for each barrel does not drop below $40. Both hypotheses are optimistic.

The Iranian Parliament’s own research center announced in a separate report that the income predicted from the sale of oil is doubtful as $40 a barrel price would most likely be unreachable.

Thus, Rouhani’s government is facing a truly daunting economic crisis, which even in the best scenario will result in debts equal to Iran’s total oil sales for the present Persian year, which began on March 20.