Government Spokesman: 4.85m Cut From Cash Subsidy List

Government Spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said on Saturday that 4,853,386 people have been removed from the list of cash subsidies recipients as of January 20.

This comes as a report released by Eghtesad Online earlier put the number at 7 million people. The report was published by Financial Tribune on January 9.

As part of the Subsidy Reform Plan, the administration of former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, removed subsidies on food and energy in 2010 and instead paid 455,000 rials ($11.9) to every Iranian on a monthly basis, IRNA reported.

The administration of President Hassan Rouhani continued to implement the plan it inherited from the government of former president, albeit reluctantly amid financial constraints, mainly as a result of plummeted oil revenues compared to those during Ahmadinejad’s controversial tenure.