Amin Raoufinejad

Fewer than 20 days after President Ahmadinejad announced in a speech that an important event ‎would shake up the country's economy in the new Iranian year that began on March 20th, 2008, ‎two news outlets affiliated with the group known as the Principalists (Osoolgarayan) reported ‎that the most important part of the president's promised "big reform" was the payment of cash ‎subsidies to the public. Fars News Agency published this report and the conservative website ‎‎"Alef" even reported the amount of the payment: 50 thousand Tomans (about 50 USD) per ‎month per individual. ‎

If yesterday's reports by Fars News Agency and Alef website are correct, the meaning of the big ‎reform mentioned by the President is nothing other than that: after two and a half years ‎Ahmadinejad and his team of economic advisors have decided to implement the main campaign ‎promise of Mehdi Karoubi, current president of Etemad Melli party. During the ninth ‎presidential elections, Karoubi was able to increase his popularity among the poor by advancing ‎the slogan, "50 thousand Tomans for every Iranian." ‎

Fars News Agency quotes an "informed official" that the "gradual payment of cash subsidies" is ‎among a host of new policies set to be announced by Ahmadinejad in a significant year ‎culminating in the presidential elections. This informed official adds, "In the first phase of this ‎program, energy subsidies such as gasoline subsidies will be deposited into accounts of every ‎individual, and gradually people with high incomes will be removed from the list of energy ‎subsidies recipients. In the next phase, essential goods subsidies such as wheat and bread ‎subsidies will be paid out in cash." ‎

The website "Alef" (affiliated with Ahmad Tavakkoli) published a more thorough report on this ‎issue. The website reports, "According to the most probable scenario suggested in this program, ‎energy and essential goods subsidies will be paid in cash to different target groups. In the ‎program's initial drafts, it is expected that with the phasing out of these subsidies, their equal in ‎cash payments be paid directly to all Iranian citizens. An initial estimate has placed the payment ‎for year 1387 at 50 thousand Tomans per month per person." ‎

However, one must not rush to conclusions. We must remain patient until the end of the week. ‎Perhaps the administration's spokesperson, Gholam-Hossein Elham, will come to the scene again ‎and refute everything as rumors; even published statements quoting Ahmadinejad himself! ‎