The Iranian government which is now looking for a lifeline in the upcoming U.S. presidential election in the hope of getting rid of just some of its crises is forced to show how deep these crises are, but nothing, especially aiding hands from outside the country and let alone from inside, can solve its crises.
These crises are reflected on a daily basis in the official media and the admissions of the officials.
Allocation of 2.1 Trillion Rials from the Credit of the Health Ministry to the Armed Forces
The Hamshahri daily, affiliated with the President Hassan Rouhani, on October 29 revealed the story of the one billion euros that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had allocated to fighting the coronavirus from the National Development Fund, and quoted the Minister of Health Saeed Namaki as saying:
“From the 1 billion euro that the Supreme Leader agreed for dealing with the coronavirus and the President also ordered to settle with us by October 29, to date we have received about 50 percent of it. Statistics from the Program and Budget Organization show that 2.1 trillion rials [$7 million] out of one billion euros allocated from the National Development Fund for controlling the coronavirus have been allocated to the Armed Forces so far.”
Stealing from the Pockets of the People by Creating Inflation
“The government’s budget this year is 6 quadrillion rials [$30 billion]. Of this amount, about 2 quadrillion rials [$10 billion] has been taxed by the government, and part of it, which is about 100 trillion Tomans, the government has sold assets.
“About 250 trillion tomans out of 600 trillion tomans of the government budget has a deficit. Its resources will be done through inflation and will be paid out of the people’s pockets. In fact, the government puts its hand in the pockets of the people and finances part of its budget deficit from the people,” Iran daily wrote on October 29.
Controversy Over the Budget of the State-run Radio and Television
The huge budget deficit led to a controversy at the top of the government over the allocation of a staggering budget to the Khamenei-controlled radio and television.
“The Broadcast budget is ‘Non-transparent’ and is ‘an economic entity’ that ‘also has very heavy losses’. The annual budget of the Radio and Television reaches about 10 trillion Tomans. Many IRIB programs that cost a lot of money to produce do not reach as many audiences as an Instagram page,” Iran added.
The Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Seeks to Promote Demagoguery from the Pockets of the Workers
Hassan Sadeghi, President of the governmental organization, “Trade Union Veterans” said: “The Parliament seeks demagoguery in 2021 elections out of workers’ pockets.”
Referring to the decision of the parliament to launch a coupon system for food, he added: “The 11th Majlis wants to withdraw 150 trillion rials [$750 million] from the pockets of the poor and distribute this money among different classes of people in order to gain popularity. They want to cover the costs of the third round of subsidies from the working class’s assets in order to carry out their so-called election slogan,” ILNA news agency wrote on 27 October.
Acknowledging the Closing of The Entry of Dollars into the Economy and the Closure of Banking Transactions
In its issue of 29 October, Eghtesad-e-Saramad daily dealt with the economic suffocation of the state and emphasized the need to withdraw from officials’ claims and align with the world. “The erratic set of the country’s economy is not based on any of the principles, rules, and requirements of economics and is unrealistic. The country’s political-economic complex has been driven into isolation by two factors: inefficient government economic policies and sanctions. Now, the entry of dollars into the country’s economy has been closed and Iran’s banking and monetary exchanges have been restricted or blocked,” the daily wrote.
The International Monetary Fund’s latest report on the situation in the Middle East, including Iran, states that Iran’s available foreign exchange reserves were about $121.6 billion in 2018, but will drop to $8.8 billion this year.
The state-run daily Jahan-e-Sanat also referred to the statistical lies of the Central Bank and wrote: “If it is the case that Iranian banks have given 4.22 quadrillion rial [$22.1 billion] to firms in six months only for working capital of all economic sectors and considering the average price of each dollar is equal to 200,000 rials, with a simple calculation, we can say that banks have provided $21 billion in facilities for economic activities, which is equivalent to three billion dollars per month.
“Given the negative growth rate of economic activity in the first half of this year, what has happened to these loans? It seems that the central bank should once and for all abandon this type of numbers creations it has invented.”
