Despite the promises of the Iranian regime that they would prevent increasing prices after they decided to remove the subsidized currency of essential goods in the name of the so-called ‘economic surgery,’ prices are again growing steadily.
In a surprising claim, while the number of people living under the poverty line is increasing, the regime has said it will decrease the inflation rate in the coming month.
Producers have stated that the decrease in the purchasing power of consumers and the sharp increase in production costs, along with the imposition of mandatory prices by the government, have destroyed all economic incentives for production, and they predict that the situation will become even worse.
Iran’s economy has become so unstable that producers suggest that the Iranian people buy their necessities as soon as possible, as no one can predict the prices of the goods in the coming months.
There have been goods that have witnessed a price increase of up to 200 and 300 percent in recent months. This has happened in the market for basic goods and other areas, and almost all goods have experienced multiple increases in price.
In recent days, as the price of a box of 30 eggs reached 100 thousand rials, a video of Javad Sadati Nejad, the regime’s Minister of Agricultural Jihad, was republished and widely viewed on the internet, where he said his government would deliver chicken at 20 thousand rials per kilo and a box of 30 eggs at 43 thousand rials to the Iranian people at their homes.
Just two months after this promise, the preferential currency of eggs was removed, and its price suddenly exceeded 75 thousand rials. As a result, poverty is increasing rapidly.
The latest official statistics on poverty in Iran are related to 2019. The 57-page report ‘Monitoring poverty in 2019’ can be considered the most documented report in this field if we trust the regime’s statistics. The report was prepared and published in May 2021.
This report confirms that the people of Iran are living in a dire situation as it read, “The inflation rate during a year, while incomes are constant, repeatedly reduces the purchasing power of the household and causes the household to achieve less well-being with previous incomes.”
It continued, “Also, in the years when the inflation rate is higher than the country’s long-term average rate, usually the incomes, especially the incomes of the low-income groups, do not grow according to inflation, and as a result, the purchasing power and well-being of the low-income groups decrease year by year.”
It added, “In fact, compared to the previous year, citizens have paid 48% more for basic goods, durable goods, and services. Therefore, if their income is stable or does not increase with the inflation rate, this group of citizens has become poorer than last year.”
The report added that unemployment is one of the main factors making some households fall below the poverty line. In its conclusion, the report confirmed that about 5.26 million people in Iran are living below the poverty line, in a situation where we could trust the regime’s statistics.
But that is not all. A recent article published by the state-run daily Bahar News on July 17 stated that a rampant increase in rental rates has heavy consequences for city dwellers and the urban environment. One of these consequences is shared rental houses. The number of these shared houses is increasing rapidly, and the demand for roommates to reduce costs has intensified.
