By Xinhua,
Tehran : Iran’s acting Interior Minister Mehdi Hashemi announced new fuel quotas under which owners of luxury cars can only buy gasoline at market price from June 21, the official Iran Daily reported Sunday.
It is the latest change of a rationing system launched a year ago under which motorists can buy 120 liters per month at the price of 1,000 rials per liter (around 11 U.S. cents) for ordinary gasoline, and 1,400 rials (15 cents) per liter for super gasoline, while the market prices are 4,000 rials (43 cents) and 5,000 rials (53 cents).
According to the change, there will be no fuel quota for locally-manufactured cars with an engine capacity exceeding 2,000 cc and imported cars with an engine capacity exceeding 1,300 cc. Owners of these cars can only buy gasoline at market price, Hashemi told reporters on Saturday.
“These cars are not many and are mostly owned by the rich people,” said Hashemi.
Iran is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer but lacks enough refining capacity for domestic needs, forcing it to import large amounts of gasoline which burdens its finance.
In a bid to curb consumption, Iran introduced rationing in June 2007.