12 June 2007
A group of Iranian economists have written an open letter warning the country’s right-wing president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that his economic policies would fuel inflation and hurt the poor. The ISNA news agency quoted the letter, signed by 57 economists, as saying: "The monetary and banking policies adopted by the government go against their stated objective of creating justice in society. The price of decisions that have no scientific basis is very high and irreversible, in particular for those who are worst off," it added.
The most prominent signatories included Mohammad Satari-Far, a former chief of Iran's planning and budget organization, and an ex-chief of the Iranian stock exchange, Hossein Abdeh Tabrizi. Both were in their posts during the tenure of Ahmadinejad's reformist predecessor Mohammad Khatami.
The central bank has predicted inflation in Iran will rise to 17 per cent in the year to March 2008, a 3.5 percentage point rise from the previous year. Some economists expect the number to be even higher. Money supply growth is running at around 40 percent and there has been a jump in the price of basic services and foodstuffs -- especially poultry and vegetables -- since the start of the Iranian New Year in March. However the president, who was elected in 2005 on a platform of distributing the country's riches more evenly, insists inflation is under control and that the government is doing all it can to reduce poverty. The letter also criticizes Iran's ‘growing dependency on oil revenues’ and says that Tehran should ‘employ a policy of understanding with the world’ at a time of growing international tension over its nuclear program. It warned there would be a ‘high price’ to pay in Iran's financial and commercial relations with the outside world if there are political tensions with the international community. Iran needs ‘foreign investment and new technology to allow a stronger growth of the economy’.
Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad has appointed a 15-member advisory council of his close aides to study his ‘works and opinions’ and choose the most important, according to a report by the British ‘Guardian’ newspaper. The Selected items are to be issued as books, CDs and pamphlets. The idea of compiling the president’s radical speeches as a commercial package has been met by a cynical response from critics. Some have pointed out that none of Ahmadinejad's predecessors published their thoughts and speeches while in office.
Read about the WJC's campaign to Stop the Iranian Threat
