grapples with sanctions that are hurting its foreign trade. The
government is expected to run a budget deficit of 0.3 percent of
GDP, the IMF said.
Those projections were based on the oil price averaging $115
in 2012. If it instead averages $100, that could lop some $9
billion off the value of Iran's oil exports, equivalent to
almost 2 percent of GDP - enough to push the economy into
recession and multiply the budget deficit severalfold.
(editing by Ron Askew)