This week, Tehran began implementing its plan to reduce price supports on several staples by issuing cash payments to lower-class Iranians in three provinces
Iranian economists believe Tehran’s plan to cut the subsidies could lead prices on goods such as gasoline and wheat to jump by as much as 20% in the coming weeks, possibly stoking popular unrest
Under Iran’s existing system of price supports, a household of four typically receives nearly $4,000 a year in gasoline, oil and electricity payments from the government, according to the International Monetary Fund. Cuts will hit those pay-outs and also include water, wheat, sugar, rice and milk. The phase-out will occur over five years and prices will be adjusted to going rates in other Persian Gulf countries, according to Iranian media reports.
