Bad surprise for the Iranians who undergo a drastic increase in the price of gasoline, without having been warned beforehand. The authorities applied, on the night of Thursday 14 to Friday, November 15, a 50% increase in the price of gas at the pump.
This rose from 10,000 rials (about 0.20 cents) to 15,000 rials per liter (more than 0.30 cents). This price is applicable to the first 60 liters purchased each month, but each additional liter purchased will be charged 30,000 rials more.
Regulate consumption
In Tehran, lines of cars were piling up on Friday morning at the entrance of the gas stations following the change in energy policy during the night, and the Iranian police were deployed in several of them.
In Iran, the price of gas is extremely low. Consequence: consumption explodes, reaching 90 million liters per day. "In recent years, faced with the growing consumption of gasoline, experts said that if gasoline was rationed and its price reformed, then its consumption could be controlled," said Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, head of planning and budget for Iran, to the Iranian news agency Iribnews.
US sanctions and recession
This measure, presented as consistent for the government, is hard to convince the Iranians for whom such an increase will penalize the popular classes.
For the past year, Iran has been strangled by new US sanctions against Iranian oil. Its economy is in recession and the president, Hassan Rohani, believes that the country is going through the "most difficult" period for decades. According to the authorities, the revenues generated by the rise in the price of gasoline must, however, be redistributed to 60,000 Iranians in need.
With AFP