Iran Gov’t Paying New Subsidies After Gasoline Price Hike

Since the government got the ball rolling on gasoline price reform on Nov. 15, by rationing and raising the price of fuel by at least 50%, officials such as Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh have declared that revenues earned from the new fuel price hike, in their entirety, would be redistributed among the people.
Ali Rabiei, the government spokesman, also stressed that not a single rial gained from raising gas price would go to the government’s coffers, while Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the head of Plan and Budget Organization, said all the revenues earned from the price hike will be granted to 60 million people (from a total population of 82 million).  
“The latest rationing and hike in gasoline price, according to which, private car owners can buy 60 liters of subsidized gasoline every month with a fuel card for 15,000 rials [12 cents] per liter, up 50% [in prices] and additional purchases [maximum 250 liters a month] will cost 30,000 rials [25 cents] per liter, up 200%, will increase annual government revenues by $2.5 billion, which will be used exclusively for welfare spending,” Zanganeh said.