Economist Specifies Preconditions for Ending Subsidized Import Policy

Most economic experts concur that the government’s distribution of cheap dollar was a telling example of public fund misuse both regarding 25 items that were to be imported with the subsidized forex and people who were entrusted with the responsibility of importing them. 
This was stated by Vahid Shaqaqi-Shahri, an economist and university professor, in a write-up for the Persian daily Ta’adol. A translation of the text follows:
Official figures indicate that a fund diversion to the tune of 3,000 trillion rials ($10 billion) has occurred during the process of distributing foreign currency resources at the exchange rate of 42,000 rials per US dollar among importers of essential goods. To offset the consequences of this misappropriation, which created multiple problems for the country’s foreign exchange market, the government narrowed down the number of essential goods subject to this subsidized forex policy from 25 items to seven.