Deputy oil minister, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, has said the government has no plan to offer gasoline at free market price at least until next March.

“There will be no changes in the current gasoline quota,” the official stated, adding that the issue (offering non-rationed gasoline) is under debate in the Majlis and has nothing to do with the government.

It is unlikely that gasoline will be offered at free market price given that the gasoline rationing plan which is currently being implemented has had no impact on easing traffic congestion, he maintained, reported IRIB.

Nematzadeh, however, stressed that the government would abide by any decision taken by the Majlis in this respect if the bill on non-rationed petrol is approved.

Nematzadeh’s remarks came a day after Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said, at his first press conference after winning vote of confidence from the parliament, that gasoline at free market price would have inflationary effect on the economy.

Putting gasoline consumption at 58.5 million liters per day, he stated that the figure might stand at 84.5 liters a day if the gasoline rationing plan had not been implemented.

Iran, OPEC’s second largest oil producer, implemented the rationing plan in late June to curb lavish gasoline consumption.

Gasoline imports inflict huge burden on the state coffer each year as subsidized petrol price (11 cents per liter) is less than a bottle of mineral water in the oil-rich Middle Eastern state.

(Zawya)