After eliminating red and white meat, it's time for eggs and yogurt.

Iran's labor minister has spoken of people's tables becoming "more colorful" and Ebrahim Raisi has spoken of curbing inflation. But the reality is that inflation is breaking the back. A simple omelet with a bowl of yogurt is considered a "luxury food" for a significant portion of society.

It has not been a month since Labor Minister Ebrahim Raisi made his remarks. He said he was aware of the income levels of workers and retirees and promised to curb inflation so that people's tables would become "more colorful."

According to the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), the inflation rate broke a record in September. It is said that the price of food has increased at an unprecedented rate.

Ebrahim Raisi, the 13th Prime Minister, has spoken about curbing inflation and claimed that inflation is his government's "red line" and is at the top of the priorities he is pursuing.

Instead of offering a specific solution to curb inflation, Raisi has warned government officials to avoid making decisions that will lead to an increase in inflation. He has promised to reduce spending in the 1401 budget. But the problem is that the increase in the prices of food products and housing has reached such a level that workers and pensioners are unable to meet their urgent and vital needs.

Eliminate mutton

According to Mansour Pourian, head of the Islamic Republic's Livestock Supply Council, a part of society refrains from consuming mutton due to economic problems.

In an interview with ILNA, he addressed the problems of nomads and livestock farmers, noting that due to the high price of meat, "the population for three production seasons, namely the winter of 2019 and also the spring and summer of this year, is left in the hands of livestock farmers."

Pourian admitted: "Unfortunately, people have almost eliminated the consumption of mutton due to the special economic conditions they are facing."

This official believes that now that a part of society cannot afford to buy sheep meat, livestock farmers should export their meat to alleviate their problems!

It's time for the egg.

In another report, ILNA quoted workers and retirees as saying: "We can no longer afford to buy milk, yogurt, and eggs!"

The same news agency says about inflation data for September of this year: "All components have hit a record!" According to the statistics presented in this report, the spot inflation rate in September of this year has reached about 48 percent.

In other words, according to official statistics of the Islamic Republic, the purchasing power of the Iranian people has decreased by about 50 percent in just one year. ILNA news agency further wrote: “The high price of dairy products and eggs is extremely worrying; groups that have long been forced to eliminate red meat and chicken from their diets are now faced with another heavy compulsion: the removal of eggs from their diets, due to their skyrocketing prices. Field observations show that each egg in the market has reached about two thousand tomans!”

The price of dairy products has also increased at an unprecedented rate. A liter of milk has reached more than 12,000 tomans, and a kilo of yogurt has reached about 15,000 tomans.

Rice, which costs 50,000 tomans per kilo, had long been removed from many people's tables. An ILNA reporter called eating a simple omelet with a bowl of yogurt a "luxury meal" and said that the price of this simple dish without tomatoes "would be at least 30,000 tomans!"

A Marivan municipality worker told this news agency about the high prices, saying that not only has his family not eaten red meat for months, but "we don't always buy yogurt and milk... Once upon a time, tomato omelet or potato omelet was a food we ate several times a week, but now eggs have become so expensive that sometimes we eat fried or boiled potatoes and skip putting eggs on the side."

Source: DW