Iran could live with $5 oil – Ahmadinejad

Iran could live with an oil price as low as $5 per barrel, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on Sunday, in comments at odds with the views of the IMF and economic analysts.

Like other major crude exporters, Iran is facing declining revenue as global oil prices have tumbled by two-thirds to $50 per barrel since July amidst a world financial crisis, after years of windfall gains that have boosted reserves.

But Ahmadinejad, who is expected to run again in next year’s presidential election, said the oil price fall would have no major impact on the economy of the world’s fourth-largest crude producer, official media reported.

“There was a time when the country managed on $9 a barrel. We can do it even if oil falls to $5,” he told reporters at a media fair in Tehran, state television said, without giving detail on how his government would handle such a situation.

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