Will withdrawing $1 billion from the National Development Fund to provide food aid help the people? Economist Peyman Molavi answered this question in an interview with "Compatriot" and said that the government has not properly understood the country's main problems. He says that nothing can be done without reducing the budget and eliminating inefficient budgets in the economy, which are in the hands of the government, and dividing $1 billion among 60 million Iranians will have no effect on their livelihoods.
What are the effects of withdrawing $1 billion from the National Development Fund and injecting it into the people through food aid?
In my opinion, the country's economic issues have not been properly understood. In a situation where the government's financial resources are limited, there is a budget deficit problem, and if sanctions increase, we will have an even greater revenue problem. Taking $1 billion or two billion or giving food aid may help the people temporarily, but my opinion has always been that we need a universal basic income. This income should not be considered a communist issue because we see that even Elon Musk in the Trump administration is talking about it. In my opinion, the tithes that have been set are the brainchild of some technocrats who are looking for money and position.
Every Iranian should receive a universal basic income, this income exists in the world and in developed countries, and it is the minimum income that a person can survive and have a minimum of calories and a minimum of housing. Today, the government has taken $1 billion from the development fund, what next? What does it want to do tomorrow and the day after? The problem that exists, and in my opinion, Mr. Pezzekian and previous presidents have not understood the issue, is that he went to the Central Bank and said he would support it. I did not understand what he supported? He supported a 50% reduction in the country's currency? They should be held accountable, not supported. Or in the field of the Ministry of Economy, it was said that they were going to monopolize the currency, but now they are saying that it is not possible. Didn't Mr. Pezzekian know before that this was impossible? If the previous government had done such things, it would definitely have been severely criticized, and by the way, that government was criticized many times, but now they are doing the same things.
What should be done in this situation?
In my opinion, nothing can be done without reducing the budget and eliminating inefficient budgets in the economy, which are in the hands of the government. Many of the budgets that are given have no effect on the country's GDP, which could be the starting point of a good trend, but no government can withstand it because in a politicized economy, if we want to eliminate these budgets, the government itself must step down.
After 6 months of the 14th government, we still have three dollar rates, and the value of the country's currency has dropped by 50 percent, and the purchasing power of the poor has been eliminated, and the purchasing power of the rich has also fallen by 50 percent. My question is, what is going to be given to the people with one billion dollars? If this money is divided among 60 million people, how much will reach each of them? These questions must be answered.
