"80 percent of the population lives below the poverty line"
Despite Iran’s 4.4 percent economic growth, a member of the parliament’s economic commission said that 80 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. An aide to Hassan Rouhani has also warned that “we are all in the same boat, and if this boat sinks, everyone will lose.”
According to the Statistical Center of Iran, the country's economy grew by 4.4% in the first 9 months of 2017, including oil, and 4.7% excluding oil, compared to the same period last year.
According to this report, in the first 9 months of this solar year, the agricultural activities group grew by 1 percent, the industrial group by 3.1 percent, and the services group by 7 percent compared to the same period last year.
Increasing poverty
The Statistical Center of Iran's report on Iran's economic growth of 4.4 percent in the first 9 months of this year 2017 comes at a time when worrying reports about citizens living below the poverty line are constantly increasing.
Shahab Naderi, a representative of the Oramana people in the Iranian parliament, said in a public meeting on Sunday (March 10) in agreement with the impeachment of Ali Rabiei, Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, that the result of the six-year performance of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare is that “80 percent of Iranian society is below the poverty line.”
Naderi considered widespread violations in the Ministry of Cooperatives and Social Welfare, "mismanagement due to the appointments of incompetent, inefficient, and unskilled individuals," as well as "inefficiency and low investment return rates" as the result of the ministry's six-year performance.
Naderi, who is a member of the parliament's economic commission, went on to say that the deputy minister of welfare has tried to boost the image of the minister of the ministry by artificially declaring the poverty line at 700,000 tomans, "while according to experts, the poverty line is two and a half million tomans."
In conclusion, referring to the public protests in January of this year, the People's Representative of Oramanat warned that "today, the existence of unemployed youth poses a security problem and unemployed youth in Tehran causes social harm."
Risk of more severe unrest
In an interview with Iran Daily, Masoud Nili, economic aide to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, pointed out the need to save the country's economy by "renewing public trust" and warned of the risk of unrest more severe than the January protests.
Explaining the challenges and prospects of Iran's economy, Nili said: "Significant improvements have occurred in economic indicators; these improvements are desirable compared to the past dire conditions, but they are far from people's expectations."
