About 17 million Iranians to receive staple food coupons

About seventeen million Iranians will receive staple food coupons, as the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the parliament have agreed to adopt policies to assist low-income families, MNA reported.

Rice, sugar, and edible oil will be distributed among the two poorest strata of society.

Earlier, the Majlis and the administration agreed to allocate $2 billion from the National Development Fund to support low-income families.

The money will be used to provide staple foods to poor families.

The Central Bank of Iran has announced that the inflation rate in the 12-month period ending with the completion of the ninth Iranian calendar month of Azar (December 20, 2012) hit 27.4 percent.

On October 22, 2012, Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi rejected the idea of reinventing the once implemented coupon-based supply of staple foods.

The Donya-ye Eqtesad daily quoted Rahimi as saying that reserves of staple foods, such as rice, meat, milk, and edible oil are sufficient and there is no need to re-launch the coupon-base system.

Meanwhile, MP Arslanan Fathipour has said that given today's economic situation in the country, and the imposed international sanctions, the coupon-based system must be reinvented.