Impediments to subsidy plan should be removed: Iranian president

TEHRAN, Apr. 7 (MNA) -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that the impediments to the implementation of the subsidy reform plan should be removed.

Currently, there are some problems blocking the implementation of the reform plan, which will hopefully be resolved, he said in a meeting with a group of official market regulators in Tehran on Tuesday.

Ahmadinejad stated that the plan can give a huge boost to the national economy.

He also expressed hope that MPs would support the administration in its efforts to shoulder the “burden” of the implementation of the plan.

He went on to say that the subsidy reform plan will improve the people’s standard of living.

There has been a hot dispute between the administration and the Majlis over the implementation of the subsidy reform plan.

In a televised speech on March 19, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the implementation of the plan, based on the ratification of the Majlis, would be detrimental to the nation.

The Ahmadinejad administration has insisted that they need $40 billion from subsidy cuts savings to implement the plan, but the Majlis only approved $20 billion.

The president suggested holding a referendum on a reform to the subsidy system that would save $40 billion and stated that his government would not implement the plan if the Majlis did not agree to the request.

However, on Sunday MP Qolamreza Mesbahi-Moqaddam of the Majlis Economic Committee said delaying the implementation of the plan would not be logical.