Azerbaijan, Baku, March 15/ Trend M. Moezzi
The head of Iran's Targeted Subsidies Organisation said withdrawing from the programme which pays Iranians about $45 a month is not mandatory after citizens got text messages telling them to withdraw, Fars news agency reports.
Many Iranians were angered by the message which suggested their income was too great to qualify for the programme. The reason why the text message didn't include the word 'optional' is because it was limited to 70 characters, Behrooz Moradi the head of the subsidies organisation said
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The Iranian government makes monthly cash payments to its citizens as it eliminates subsidies for energy and some commodities. The government was expected to save $54 billion in one year. Instead, it has had to borrow $6.5 billion from the Central Bank of Iran to make the cash payments to its citizens.