Economic Policymaking at Impasse

Iran’s economy is in need of making critical and prompt decisions. 
Gasoline and diesel consumption has increased to such unprecedented levels that some government officials say we’ll soon have to import them. Mousa Ghaninejad, veteran economist, began his article for the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad with this note. A translation of the text follows:
Government-mandated, extremely low fuel price is the main reason behind its excessive consumption and outbound, organized smuggling to neighboring countries. However, those in charge don’t dare to acknowledge this reality, given the events of November 2019 [protests fueled by the rise in gasoline prices]. It is three years now that inflation in Iran has doubled compared with the four-decade average, reaching 40%; there is no prospect of improvement, either.