Iran expects oil prices at five-year lows will put “short-term pressure” on the government’s budget even as it strives to contain inflation, President Hassan Rouhani said. Crude prices have declined about 40 percent from a June peak amid overproduction and slower demand growth. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided on Nov. 27 to maintain its production target, prompting a drop in European benchmark Brent crude to less than $70 a barrel for the first time since May 2010. “The price of Brent has fallen from $110 to less than $70, a decline little before seen,” Rouhani said yesterday in a speech to the country’s parliament in Tehran, according to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency . “It’s necessary for next year’s budget to be adjusted with caution.” The plunge in crude comes as international sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program are already curtailing crude exports, the […]