Pezeshkian urges MPs to back deficit-free budget, vows to tackle inflation
President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday called on lawmakers to help his government draft a deficit-free budget for the next fiscal year, warning that continued overspending would stoke inflation and derail the country’s goals under the Seventh Development Plan (SDP).
“A budget without deficit means balanced development,” Pezeshkian told an open session of Parliament held to review the first year of the SDP’s implementation, IRNA reported.
He stressed that the country must grow proportionately or else “any plan we write will face a deficit and cause inflation.”
The president blamed both the government and parliament for fueling inflation.
“We draft a budget that runs a deficit and create expectations, while in fact there is no money. Therefore, the result is higher prices.”
He urged lawmakers to eliminate anything that reduces efficiency when drafting next year’s budget — a stance, he said, shared by his cabinet.
Pezeshkian warned that inflationary pressures ultimately would fall on ordinary citizens, even though “our duty is to serve the people.”
He called for people’s livelihoods to take top priority in the next budget, warning that without resolving issues related to living standards, “anything we do will be going astray.”
Pezeshkian said all unnecessary expenditures should be cut and redirected to household support and commodity vouchers.
The president also appealed for cooperation in slimming down the state apparatus, saying, “Help so that the government becomes smaller.”
He reaffirmed that his government was committed to implementing the SDP, which serves as a comprehensive blueprint outlining Iran’s economic, political, security, and foreign policy priorities until March 2029.
Pezeshkian called for unity among the branches of power, saying that if officials maintained solidarity and proved they were servants of the people, “no power could bring us to our knees.” He added that there was strong determination among the heads of the three branches of power, which should be mirrored across all administrative levels.
Energy efficiency
on agenda
Pezeshkian also touched on Iran growing energy shortages and his government’s measures to bring them under control.
He said that with just a 10% reduction in consumption, Iran could save the equivalent of 900,000 barrels of oil per day.
The president noted that the country lost $7 billion worth of gas annually due to flaring, but under his government, more than 10 million cubic meters of flare gas had been recovered, with further plans to control the rest.
He added that the government had so far installed and connected over 1,800 megawatts of solar panels to the national electricity grid, bringing the daily total capacity for renewable power generation to 2,700 MW.
He said the overall capacity was expected to reach 8,000 MW by the end of the current Perian calendar year (March 20, 2026).