TEHRAN // Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, has for the first time detailed how much those living on the lowest incomes will receive as compensation for a planned energy subsidy cut.
This year, Mr Ahmadinejad promised there would be a monthly stipend for those on lower incomes, but had not said when it would start or how much it would be.
In a televised address on Tuesday night, Mr Ahmadinejad said those in the lowest income bracket would receive between 500,000 rials (Dh190) and 700,000 rials a month, while those in the bracket above would receive between 450,000 rials and 500,000 rials a month.
He did not say how much people needed to earn to be in either group. Nor did he say when the cash would be handed out.
Income and asset information has been collected for about 63 million people and the government will start dispensing the money after the data is checked, he said.
In a speech in the north-west town of Bojnord yesterday, he said the three top income brackets currently use 70 per cent of the energy subsidies.
Saeed Laylaz, an economist and the editor of the Sarmayeh economic daily, said based on the figures offered by the president he estimated about US$35 billion (Dh128.45bn) would be dispensed this year to about 55 million people.
Depending on international oil prices in the current Iranian fiscal year, the Iranian government is estimated to pay about $100bn in direct and indirect fuel and energy subsidies. An additional $10bn to $15bn would be paid for other items including bread, medicine, fertilisers and pesticides.
However, before Mr Ahmadinejad can make good on his promise to dispense the cash stipends, he needs to receive parliament's approval. But parliament has spoken out against the plan, which it fears will result in higher inflation.
Iran's current annual inflation rate stands at 23.7 per cent, while the monthly rate topped 29 per cent to Sept 21, the central bank said yesterday.
Ali Larijani, the parliament speaker, said last week the parliament would not endorse any government plans that could lead to higher inflation.
Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghaddam, the conservative chairman of parliament's economic committee, criticised Mr Ahmadinejad for promising cash payments before receiving parliament's approval and without guaranteeing there were the resources to follow through with it.
"The good part, which is cash payment, is announced, while the bitter part, which is the higher costs of living for families [after subsidies are cut], is not mentioned," Mr Moghaddam said.
Other analysts said the government's plan was not financially feasible.
"The government does not have the resources to make such payments and will have to increase the cost of energy very drastically," said Hossein Marashi, a member of the reformist Servants of Construction Party's central council.
"They may even have to sell petrol at about 10,000 rials per litre [or 10 times the current price for rationed petrol], to provide the resources for the cash payment."
Cutting energy subsidies must be a gradual and carefully planned process, in order to prevent higher inflation, Mr Marashi said.
Petrol was rationed in July 2007. Iranian car owners pay 1,000 rials per litre for up to 120 litres of rationed petrol, and for anything more they have to pay 4,000 rials a litre.
If energy subsidies are cut, the sudden higher cost of energy, including the higher cost of fuel-generated electricity, will raise the prices of agricultural and manufactured goods and give rise to even higher inflation, critics of the government plan said.
"The biggest problem with this plan is that the source for making such payments is totally dependent on oil prices. If oil prices fall below the current price there will even be a budget deficit," said Mr Laylaz, the economist.
The government already faces a budget deficit of about $30bn for the current year, Mr Moghaddam was quoted by Sarmayeh as saying, but Mr Laylaz and others estimate the budget deficit for the current year at about $43bn.
Some of Mr Ahmadinejad's critics accuse the president of making the announcement about the cash payment as part of his campaign for next year's presidential elections.
"Promising payment of cash subsidies may be meant to attract votes but it can't be said to assure votes. The electorate will not trade votes with money," Mr Marashi said.
msinaiee@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
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Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
Schedule for Asia Cup
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
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Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
General%20Classification
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Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Honeymoonish
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Hurricanes 31-31 Lions
Wellington Hurricanes:
Tries: Gibbins, Laumape, Goosen, Fifita tries, Barrett
Conversions: Barrett (4)
Penalties: Barrett
British & Irish Lions:
Tries: Seymour (2), North
Conversions: Biggar (2)
Penalties: Biggar (4)
RACE CARD
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,400m
5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 1,000m
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7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Al Ain Mile Group 3 (PA) Dh350,000 1,600m
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Amith's selections:
5pm: AF Sail
5.30pm: Dahawi
6pm: Taajer
6.30pm: Pharitz Oubai
7pm: Winked
7.30pm: Shahm
8pm: Raniah
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3 out of 5 stars
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
