The Scent of September Arrives with “Stationery Price Hikes”
As the new academic year approaches in Iran, Iranian media outlets are reporting 2 to 4-fold increases in school supplies and stationery items. On the other hand, there are complaints about the significant price differences between “luxury stationery” and domestic products.
In nearly 20 days, September will arrive again and with it, “the scent of the school season.” As this month approaches, Iranian families experience a surge in purchasing enthusiasm for stationery, bags, pencil cases, and everything related to school. However, domestic Iranian media are reporting on the differences between this year’s prices and last year’s ahead of the new academic year.
ILNA news agency has published a field report on stationery sales in this regard. In the report, buyers complain about “prices multiplying” compared to last year.
Mohammad Ali Zafarani, deputy head of the Shiraz Association of Stationery Retailers and Booksellers, told ILNA: “Many stationery items are imported, and those that are not imported have raw materials that are imported.”
According to this official, the price increase in the stationery sector is a result of “sanctions and currency exchange rates compared to the previous year.” Zafarani said: “Particularly in notebook production, and due to paper being imported, this issue is more noticeable.”
According to ILNA’s report, textbook prices increased by only 8 percent compared to last year. The deputy head of the Shiraz Association of Stationery Retailers and Booksellers believes: “If the government had not provided subsidies for textbooks, prices would have at least doubled.”
Parliamentary Representative Protests Prices and “Luxury Stationery”
The multi-fold increase in stationery prices has prompted a reaction from a parliamentary representative. Mohammad Reza Sabaghi Bafqi, representative of Mehriz and Bafq, in an open session on Monday, September 2, raised concerns with the Education Minister about the “multi-fold increase in stationery prices,” saying: “Unfortunately, there is no oversight in this area; meanwhile, some schools under difficult economic conditions are imposing the purchase of certain special stationery items on families, which is unjust.”
“Luxury stationery” also includes foreign brands of stationery that many Iranian citizens purchase due to “superior quality” compared to domestic products.
However, Akbar Chit Saz, head of the Books and Stationery Retailers Association, said on Monday, September 2, in an interview with IMNA: “In Iran, there are brands that compete with their foreign counterparts, so schools’ suggestions to students to buy foreign brands are not due to the low quality of Iranian products; schools are thinking about their own revenue.”
A Campaign Against “Luxury” Items
ILNA’s report also mentions “luxury stationery” that “is sold at prices several times higher than other supplies.”
Zafarani refers to a “campaign” that “has emerged around the distribution and purchase of luxury stationery.” According to him, this campaign asks people to “purchase and produce notebooks and pencil cases with Iranian-Islamic symbols,” and producers are indeed creating such items with good quality.” According to the deputy head of the Shiraz Association of Stationery Retailers and Booksellers, these symbols are suitable for modern society and have aesthetic value, replacing symbols such as Barbie and others.
Akbar Chit Saz also believes that “people’s inclination to buy Iranian products has increased.” The head of the Books and Stationery Retailers Association said: “Last year, the share of foreign products in the market was around 80 percent, but now it has reached 50 percent.”
Simultaneously with this report, the Islamic Republic News Network reports that according to the commander of law enforcement in Kurdistan, today on September 2, a truck carrying 207,622 items of unauthorized imported stationery that was being transported from southern provinces to Tehran was seized.
Source: DW
