Head of Relief Committee: Poverty Line Has Reached 10 Million Tomans

The head of the Relief Committee says estimates indicate that on average during the period from 1380 to 1398, approximately 33 percent of the country’s population fell below the “multidimensional poverty line,” and the poverty line has increased from 950 thousand tomans in 1390 to 10 million tomans in 1399.

According to ISNA, Mortaza Bakhtiari said on Sunday, the 24th of Mordad, the results obtained in a poverty study from year 80 to 98 show that household expenses over this 18-year period have increased 22-fold.

According to him, while the population below the absolute poverty line reached 15 percent from year 92 to 96, it increased to 30 percent from year 96 to 98.

Iranian officials and institutions have so far provided varying statistics on poverty growth in the country.

Last June, the Majlis Research Center announced that the poverty line for four-member households in Tehran rose from 2.5 million tomans to 4.5 million tomans over the past two years, indicating an 80 percent increase.

This is while the head of the Relief Committee says the poverty line has reached 10 million tomans, and Hamidrezza Emamgholizadeh, the inspector of the Supreme Assembly of Workers’ Representatives of the country, also announced this figure as 10 million tomans last September.

Last month, the World Bank in its latest report on poverty and inequality prospects in Iran announced that the continued recession of recent quarters and the emergence of high inflation has driven a significant portion of Iran’s population toward the poverty line, in such a way that per capita consumption in Iran has decreased significantly and as a result poverty has increased severely.

Source: Radio Farda