Majlis Can’t Solve People’s Livelihood With Slogans
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
TEHRAN – Outspoken economist Hossein Raghfar urges Majlis to take proper measures for resolving people’s livelihood because problems will not be solved with slogans.
Mr. Raghfar who is a teacher at Al-Zahra University in an interview with ILNA talked about the current economic condition which is getting worse.
He said national economic policies should be drawn up in a way that provision of people’s needs would be possible, reiterating that currently there is no way but rationing the basic goods, and sooner or later this policy will be adopted in the country. So rationing is the least solution for a mid-term prospect in order that for a certain period of time the production capacity and job creations in the country are enhanced and the forex expenditure of imports to be managed, he added.
Raghfar also criticized the government for its decisions regarding its budget deficit by increasing the forex rate which led to unprecedented surges in the forex market, saying that consequences of this decision were clear since the first day. He added that unfortunately, devaluation of the national currency is the policy of the hapless governments as they move towards devaluation of national currency in order to cover their budget deficit and repay their debts, and they transfer people’s resources from their pockets to the government pocket. He reiterated the side-effect of this policy is not short-time and it blows serious damages to the national economy.
He continued to say that today people witness corruption in the state-run organs and these corruptions have weakened the government in facing the problems and the public trust has been damaged and all these factors make the condition of the country more complicated.
Raghfar said these mistrusts cause people to turn to speculative activities rather than production and this is a void cycle which has been created in the country in the past three decades and it has created whirlpool-like waves whose radius is getting wider and wider and swallow more people and enhance corruption.
Touching upon unsatisfactory condition of households’ livelihood, he said today most of people are struggling with livelihood-related problems and Majlis can’t improve the condition by slogans. He added that it is better the establishment to recognize the current condition as an emergency condition and the policies in the country are adopted based on this condition.
Raghfar reiterated that Iran has the experience of the eight-year war and it can help the country. He called for restricting forex activities especially for imports of non-essential goods. He further said all policies and decisions should be based on protecting the public interests and currently, there is no way but rationing some basic goods. He predicted this decision will be taken sooner or later and it should continue for a certain time in order that the country can manage the forex expenditures and boosting production capacity.
He also criticized the current banking system and accused the Central Bank of being unable to supervise the performance of the banks which are involved in investing in housing, gold and forex markets rather than in production or granting loans to production sector.
