As the value of Iran’s rial has dropped and the exchange rate of the dollar has raised sharply in recent months, retirees and wage earners are facing a severe decline in their purchasing power. A retirees’ rights activist states, “The first winner of the dollar’s price surge is the government.”
According to the state-run ILNA news agency, Mohammadreza Ghorbani, a labor retirees’ union activist, explained the winners and losers of the currency surge, stating, “The higher the exchange rate goes, the government receives more foreign currency through legal exports or even by bypassing sanctions, and by converting it to rials, it compensates for its budget deficit.”
Ghorbani added, “After the government, quasi-private rent-seeking companies such as petrochemical firms, steel industries, and large mines benefit the most, as exports become easier for them, and their revenues multiply with the rising exchange rate.”
Criticizing the widespread economic corruption in the Iranian regime’s system, he further stated, “Embezzlers and those who obtain massive loans from banks without proper regulations or guarantees are also among the winners.”
Describing the struggles of workers in obtaining a 300 million rial loan (approximately 320 dollars), this retirees’ rights activist remarked that some influential and well-connected individuals secure billion-rial loans, use them to buy dollars and gold, and within a few months, amass astronomical wealth in this turbulent economy.
This social security retirees’ union activist emphasized that the main losers of the dollar’s price hike are employed workers, retirees, teachers, nurses, and all government employees with fixed incomes.
He warned, “The upper layers of wage earners, who once belonged to the middle class, have now fallen below the poverty line, while the lower classes are plunged into absolute destitution.”
Ghorbani, referring to the dire situation of working-class families, said, “In the outskirts of Tehran, such as Abdolabad, I know workers who have been forced to pull their children out of school due to the sharp rise in living costs.”
Describing how these children are now street vendors instead of students, he stated, “Street vending by the children of the working class in the southern parts of the city has become normal, which means education has become deeply class-based.”
Ghorbani then pointed to the consequences of the dollar’s surge in the healthcare sector, adding, “The deregulation of drug prices and the rising exchange rate have made it impossible for workers and retirees to afford doctor visits or buy medicine.”
This labor activist further noted, “Many have been forced to resort to self-treatment or forgo treatment altogether—which puts their lives at risk.”
Iran’s economy has faced multiple challenges in recent months. With the continued rise in the dollar’s value and persistent inflation, retirees and workers are experiencing severe financial strain.
While labor activists warn about the livelihood crisis of wage earners, economic policymakers continue to insist on policies that, according to Ghorbani, “only fill the pockets of embezzlers and profiteers.”
