Frashad Momeni, a government-affiliated economist, expressed concern over a potential 40% increase in gasoline prices in Iran’s 2025 budget proposal, calling the overall budget policies “dangerous and worrisome.”
In an interview with the Jamaran website, this university economics professor criticized “secrecy” in the government’s framework, identifying the lack of transparency as a major flaw in next year’s budget proposal.
According to Momeni, despite warnings to the administration of Iranian regime’s president Masoud Pezeshkian about the “significant economic, social, political, and even national security costs” that would accompany a gas price increase, the Deputy Chair of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Budget and Planning Commission recently announced that the government intends to raise gas prices by at least 40% next year.
The sudden rise in gasoline prices in November 2019 triggered widespread protests in Iran, which were met with a harsh crackdown by the regime. According to Reuters, at least 1,500 protestors were killed during the November crackdown.
Mehrdad Lahouti, Deputy Chair of Majlis Budget and Planning Commission, told the government-affiliated ILNA news agency that due to a reduction in the government’s budget for gasoline imports in next year’s budget proposal, gasoline “is very likely to become more expensive next year.”
In his remarks, Momeni criticized the $6 billion reduction in the foreign currency allocation for importing essential goods at subsidized prices in next year’s budget, noting that this action, along with reduced imports of essential goods, will drive up the prices of these items.
He described this policy as one that will simultaneously increase inflation and unemployment, resulting in widespread poverty.
ILNA has projected that next year, due to a $3 billion cut in the import budget, an inflation-adjusted increase in the preferential exchange rate, and the deregulation of energy prices—including electricity—costs will rise significantly.
Momeni criticized the economic policies in Iran since 1989 as crisis-inducing and stated that the approach to managing the nation’s economy has remained unchanged.
Referring to inequalities in cash flow distribution among Iranians, this economist noted that more than 82% of the country’s liquidity is concentrated in the hands of just 2.5% of depositors.
He also described the government’s two-phase approach to presenting budget components to Majlis as a move that “exacerbates the transparency crisis.”
Citing performance evaluation reports from the Sixth Development Plan, which covered the five-year period from 2016 to 2021, Momeni said that despite the allocation of foreign currency and rial resources “far beyond the amounts projected in the legislation,” only 9% of the plan’s goals have been achieved.
