Subsidy Plan Revenues to Reach $8.6b

The Majlis Joint Commission has set the ceiling for revenues from the Subsidy Reform Plan at 370 trillion rials ($8.6 billion) for the next fiscal year (March 2018-19), out of which 230 trillion rials ($5.34 billion) will be paid to Iranian households in the form of cash or non-cash subsidies, the spokesman of the commission said.

Noting that the current year’s revenues out of the plan were 480 trillion rials ($11.16 billion), Ali Asghar Yousefnejad added that the government has to narrow down the list of cash subsidy recipients by 33 million.  

A total of 270 trillion rials ($6.27 billion) were paid during the eight months to Nov. 21, 2017, which is expected to rise to 335 trillion rials ($7.79 billion) by the Iranian yearend, ISNA reported.

“A total of 76,317,598 Iranians were on the list of cash payments by Nov. 21, 2017.The number was 75,416,514 in March 2017,” Yousefnejad said.

Earlier, Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare Ali Rabiei said nearly 40 million people have been identified as eligible for the government’s cash subsidy.

“The monthly minimum wage of about 9 million rials ($214) will be the criterion for assisting those in need,” he was quoted as saying by IRIB News.

As part of the Subsidy Reform Plan, the government of President Hassan Rouhani’s predecessor removed food and energy subsidies in 2010 and instead paid 455,000 rials ($10.5) to each and every Iranian on a monthly basis. The controversial plan has been retained by President Hassan Rouhani’s administration.