Iran’s economy is plagued with corruption. People are suffering due to this corruption and the regime’s wrong economic policies. The situation has reached a point that Iran’s state media and regime officials acknowledge a part of these crises.
“Iran’s rising inflation rate has become a regular economic indicator with a devastating effect on the country’s economy, mainly on the Iranian families’ lives,” wrote the state-run Mardom Salarie daily on September 19.
“The income of the families does not meet all their needs. As inflation has risen, some have become poorer, and others have become richer, which has widened the class divide and dissatisfaction with the economic and social situation,” Mardom Salarie added.
Mardom Salarie acknowledged that “nearly 25 million families live in Iran. According to economists, about 40 percent of them receive less salary than approved the laws of the Ministry of Labor, and some receive even less. In a statistic announced some time ago, the Central Bank said that the poverty line in the country has reached about 10 million Tomans, while the official income in this country barely reaches 5 million Tomans.”
Iranians have such a low income, while according to Mardom Salarie, “inflation in Iran’s economy has not stopped and is increasing. Many economists believe that with the current management methods, the situation will get worse by the end of the year.”
Many experts have examined Iran’s economic crisis. The regime and its apologists try to blame sanctions for the current economic recession in Iran. But as some officials and state media acknowledge the regime’s role in creating and amplifying these crises.
“The [regime’s] laws generate corruption, and if the current trend continues, we will lose 80% of our political legitimacy,” said MP Hassan Lotfi on September 19, according to the state-run Royedade 24.
“Unfortunately, the number of [economic] laws is increasing daily. For example, we have about 800 legal titles in taxing alone. In such a situation, we sometimes see that a person in charge of tax affairs, according to his own taste, uses the ‘good law’ for someone he likes. When he does not like the client, the same administrator applies the ‘bad law,’” Lotfi adds.
“The cause of economic corruption is the lack of transparency. Now the question I ask is which government resources are transparent? Which information system does the media have access to? How do people know how much we are paid in the parliament? Where are the assets of officials tycoons are invested, and from where did they get these assets?” Lotfi acknowledged. Besides corruption, there is another reason that has caused a rising inflation rate: liquidity growth.
“One of the main reasons for inflation is the growing budget deficit and the government’s inability to resolve this issue,” Mardom Salarie wrote in this regard. To compensate for its budget deficit, the regime started banknote printing, increasing Iran’s liquidity. Since the production rate was far behind the liquidity growth, Iran’s inflation rate rapidly increased and continues this rising trend.
According to Mardom Salarie, Iran’s inflation rate has reached “more than 45% this August. This is an unprecedented figure, and it is predicted to reach 60% with the current budget deficit and Tehran’s inability to grow trade.”
“In this situation, the government should either control inflation or prevent the increase of prices by subsidizing the consumer or increase the salaries so that the people can cover their expenses. But while the government is facing a budget deficit and has its hand in people’s pockets. It’s unlikely that this will happen,” Mardom Salarie wrote.
“Therefore, it seems that in the coming weeks and months, the situation of the families will worsen, and this will cause more goods and services to be removed from people’s tables,” Mardom Salarie adds.
As MP Lotfi acknowledged, the regime has long lost its political legitimacy after years of corruption coupled with oppression. As a result, people’s protests and their anger toward the regime continue to increase.
“We must acknowledge that the country’s economic situation is worse than it can be imagined, and its dangerous and harmful social, political, and moral effects and consequences should not be overlooked,” the state-run Eghtesad-e Pouya warned on September 14.
Source » ncr-iran