An official from an internal commission of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, referring to Raisi’s call for rapidly eradicating absolute poverty, says the scope of the problem is intensifying and low-income deciles will face greater difficulties. Raisi’s remarks have drawn surprise and ridicule.
Khosro Foroughan Gransayeh, head of the domestic commerce commission of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview with ILNA, referring to Ibrahim Raisi’s remarks about eradicating absolute poverty: “The way things are being implemented, not only will absolute poverty not be eliminated, but it will increase significantly, and low-income deciles will face far greater difficulties.”
He predicted that in the coming year there would be significant price increases, and the vulnerable segments of the population would suffer the most damage. According to ILNA’s report of this economic manager: “Despite official forecasts based on seven percent inflation in 1401, due to problems in the distribution structure, oversight, and pricing, inflation will be far higher than the official figure.”
Emphasizing the problems of the economic structure and criticizing the performance of government officials, he stated: “We have no transparent structure in any sector, and unfortunately there is a lack of necessary honesty among those in positions of authority.”
In the final two weeks of 1400, Ibrahim Raisi had asked governors across Iran to “use all capacities to eradicate absolute poverty and not allow this issue to extend into 1401.”
Economic activists and experts called this demand unprofessional and surprising. Users of social media networks also made this directive the subject of jokes and ridicule.
Based on a report released by the Ministry of Labor in late October 1400, in 1399 more than one-third of Iran’s population lived in “absolute poverty.”
Earlier, Hamid Reza Imam Gholitabar, inspector of the Supreme Assembly of Workers’ Representatives in the country, had said that “half of Iran’s population lives in poverty.”
Also in August 1400, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare announced in a report that in 1398, one-third of Iran’s population was below the “poverty line.” Based on Iran’s population in that year, this figure covers more than 26 million Iranians.
Source: DW
