Ministry of Jihad Agriculture: Traditional Bread Has Not Become Expensive, We Will Provide Subsidies to People in Coming Days

Following the announcement of new prices for various types of bread and criticism over price increases in Iran, the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture is attempting to respond to these criticisms by denying “rumors” about traditional bread price hikes and promising new subsidies.

Jam-e Jam Online reported on Wednesday, May 4, citing the director general of inspection and supervision of essential goods at the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture: “Rumors circulating in cyberspace about price increases for traditional breads including barbari, sangak, lavash, and khorasani are denied.”

This ministry official’s statement comes one day after a list of new prices for commonly consumed bread types was released to the media, showing that, for example, the price of regular baguette bread has increased from three thousand to ten thousand tomans.

Last week, the head of the bakers’ association had announced that ten days earlier, factories were notified that flour prices for producers of pasta, cake, cookies, starch, and noodles have quintupled, and for this reason, prices of these products in Iran will increase significantly.

The Ministry of Jihad Agriculture’s denial regarding traditional bread prices was released even as flour price increases naturally lead to bread price increases.

Trade News reported on Tuesday, citing Hossein Yazdjerdi, head of Iran’s Flour and Bread Industries Association: “When we were providing wheat to the private sector at 2,700 tomans and this year we set wheat at 12,000 tomans for them, it is natural that the prices of this sector’s products increase accordingly.”

It appears that in response to criticism of these price increases, the Agriculture Minister promised Tuesday night that new subsidies would be paid to people for wheat price increases—subsidies that according to him would be “greater than the amount of cost increases.”

Javad Sadatinezhad, Minister of Jihad Agriculture, said in an interview with Channel One news: “Industrial and free-market bread has been deregulated, and to compensate for this, the government will deposit a subsidy amount in the coming days to offset this price increase, which will be more than the costs resulting from this inflation.”

Mr. Sadatinezhad also attempted to attribute these price increases in the country to global grain price increases following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He said: “New conditions have been created for global food security, and the Iranian government has also decided to deregulate flour for industrial uses to preserve the stability of our country’s food security due to the widespread smuggling of products using flour.”

However, this is only partially true, and price increases in Iran did not begin in the two months since the war in Ukraine. President Ebrahim Raisi, from the beginning of taking office, promised to reduce inflation rates and stabilize the market situation, but official statistics and field reports have for months shown the opposite of these promises, indicating increased inflation, unemployment, and rising liquidity in the country.

Moreover, the head of the Middle East and Central Asia department of the International Monetary Fund said last week that the Ukraine war has had no impact on food supplies for countries like Iran and Iraq, and “Iraq and Iran, with rising oil prices, can meet any need for wheat and other food items.”

Source: Radio Farda