“I will not say what I’ve received.” This is the answer of the Iranian regime’s president Ebrahim Raisi to a reporter who asked him about the country’s economic situation.
Just a brief look at Iran’s miserable economic situation reveals the true extent of the destruction that has been caused. What Raisi did not dare to say is that he received an economy without an infrastructure when he became president. Poverty is so widespread that except for the regime’s officials, almost everyone in Iran is living on or way below the poverty line.
One of the signs of this critical situation is the real value of the subsidy. In exposing the rate of the subsidy, Raisi stated, “The value of the 450,000 rials of subsidy yesterday, has now reached 70 rials.”
This subsidy has never been able to match the staggering inflation and the huge liquidity that has resulted from the regime’s corrupt economy. And today, worth less than a bucket of yogurt.
On this topic, the state-run daily Tejarat News wrote, “While the first 2022 subsidy is deposited into the account of the head of the household, many recipients have serious objections to the amount of the subsidy. As some audiences say, these subsidy rates do not even cover the purchase of yogurt. Having to grapple with the dramatic spike in the price of many commodities, the public views the current subsidy as a token and even worthless.”
Further expressing its frustration, this daily added, “We do not want high subsidies. Control the inflation. By God, we are being squeezed below the living costs. With these tokens, which we call a subsidy, even a bucket of yogurt cannot be purchased. You are insulting us all. And every day you make hollow promises. The analysis of Tejarat News shows that the price of a kilo of yogurt is more than 500,000 rials. When a kilo of low-quality rice is over 400,000 rials, what is the use of this amount of subsidy for this nation? Even if three people put their subsidies together they be not able to buy chicken.”
Everyone in Iran cites the devaluation of the national currency, the skyrocketing inflation rate, the monetary-based growth, staggering liquidity, the decline in GDP, and a decade of negative economic growth among the damages caused by the country’s declining economic situation.
The regime’s president, however, is playing innocent. “If the value of the national currency does not rise, whatever salary raise we give will not work in practice,” Raisi admitted.
On April 1, the regime’s media challenged Raisi’s remarks. The Eghtesad Online website wrote, “This statement of the President while examining the inflation of previous years and its application on cash subsidies shows that subsidy has decreased even more and a subsidy of 455,000 rials in 2010 is currently worth about 43,000 rials.”
