President enlists MPs for plan to reform economy
August 14, 2008 - 0:0
TEHRAN –- President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has called for full cooperation between the Majlis and the administration in implementation of the economic reform plan.
“Cooperation between the administration and the Majlis is a necessity for the implementation of this plan,” Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday in a meeting with the members of parliament’s special committee on the economic reform plan.He pointed out that his administration believes the parliament’s expert opinions are essential for the implementation of the economic reform plan.
The plan states that all subsidies for various products should be directly paid to the people.
The president also called energy a “national asset” and cited “saving the energy” as one of the aims of the plan.
The committee members were given an initial briefing by Ahmadinejad and Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Shamsodin Hosseini.
The plan was devised to tackle the country’s main economic problems, such as rising inflation (currently at 26.1 percent), and to ensure that low-income families pay less taxes and receive more government benefits.
In order to decrease inflation caused by middlemen, the plan calls for the creation of a direct link between consumers and producers through new chain stores and monitoring of the distribution of goods through the use of a new national coding system for all products.
The members of parliament’s economic reform committee stated they approve of the basic outlines of the plan