Iranian MPs approve general outlines of bill to suspend subsidy reform plan

TEHRAN,Nov.12(MNA)– The Iranian Majlis approved the general outlines of a bill that suspends the implementation of the second phase of the subsidy reform plan. Of the 245 MPs present for the parliament session on Sunday, 168 voted in favor of halting the second phase of the subsidy reform plan. The implementation of the subsidy reform plan began in December 2010. At the time, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called it the “biggest economic plan of the past 50 years.” It allows the government to gradually slash subsidies on fuel, electricity, and certain goods over the course of five years, with low-income families being compensated with direct cash handouts. On May 5, the Majlis Integration Committee rejected the administration’s proposal to increase revenues from subsidy cuts, a move which effectively blocked the implementation of the second stage of the subsidy reform plan in the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2013.