Morteza Afghah, an economist and university professor, has stated that claims about the “reduction in the poverty rate” in Iran have been reversed due to the increase in subsidies, and the “high inflation rate” will swallow up all indicators.
Afghah criticized the latest report from the Majlis (parliament) Research Center, which claimed a “one percent reduction in the poverty rate” in the past two years coinciding with the inauguration of the government of Ebrahim Raisi, considering it incorrect.
He has added that these government institutions set the “poverty rate measurement criteria” at the minimum subsistence and poverty line, stating that if the poverty rate is calculated based on this criterion, it was conceivable that “low-income individuals,” who usually have larger households, would receive “more subsidies” after the elimination of preferential currency allocation.
The latest report from the Parliamentary Research Center claims a 1% reduction in the poverty rate in the “past two years” and reaching “30 percent” after an 11 percent growth from 2020 to 2021.
On November 22, the Tasnim News Agency, linked to the IRGC, reported that despite workers putting in extra efforts and working two jobs, with “70 percent” of them struggling to sustain their lives, an event that experts refer to as “struggling to survive.”
In a report on September 7, the state-run ILNA news agency also addressed the inflation and the economic situation of Iranian households, stating that the “minimum subsistence basket” in the worst-case scenario, with the addition of housing costs in Tehran, exceeds “230 million rials,” (approximately $457) and in major industrial cities like Mashhad, Isfahan, and Tabriz, it ranges from “200 to 220 million rials. (approximately $397-437) ”
Morteza Afghah reiterated the warning of a “group of experts” to the government at the time of the decision to increase the “subsidy payment ceiling” and added: “It was announced at the same time that, despite the possibility of a reduction in the poverty rate in the first year due to the ‘upcoming inflation rate,’ the ‘high inflation rate’ will swallow up all these indicators.”
He stated that for several years, the trend of “eliminating the middle class” has been initiated in the country and said: With wrong policies, people’s tables have become smaller, and every month, the income of an increasing number of middle-class households is decreasing.
Meanwhile, Masoud Pezeshkian, a member of the regime’s Majlis, rejected the government’s prediction about the Seventh Development Plan regarding the economic outlook of Iran in the coming years on September 27, stating: “An eight percent economic growth mentioned in the bill is not feasible.”
