Concerns about basic commodity reserves, foreign exchange, rial reserves, oil sales, foreign trade volume eliminated

In his fifth live televised address to the people on Monday evening, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi stated that the first and most important issue of the government when starting office was the daily grieves of more than 700 families due to corona outbreak.

He said, "Vaccination and protection of people's lives, in which, thanks to God, we were successful with the efforts of the government and the cooperation of the people in this field, and today the number of daily deaths due to corona has decreased from 700 to 7 people".

Referring to the reopening of businesses and scientific and educational centres after successful and effective public vaccination, the President added, "Today, in addition to supplying vaccines out of imports, we also have a very high capacity to produce vaccines in the country and even export them".

Raisi stated that another concern of the first days of the 13th government was the concern about the stocks of goods and said, "With the efforts of the government, the worries about the stocks of basic goods were eliminated in a short period of time".

The President continued, "Today, the amount of oil sales in the country has doubled since the beginning of the government, and we no longer have to worry about this".

"On the other hand, the volume of the country's foreign trade, especially with neighbouring countries, has increased and the total foreign trade of the country has reached 100 billion dollars, which in this regard, the situation is completely different from before," he said.

Raisi described the budget deficit of 450 trillion tomans in year 1400 as another challenge in the first months of the 13th government, adding, "With the efforts of our colleagues in the government, without borrowing from the central bank or creating money, we were able to earn new income by solving new problems".

Many experts were concerned about rising inflation in 1400, he said, adding, "Many economists believed that the growing trend of inflation in year 1400 would increase to 60 per cent from 40 per cent, but thank God, with the measures taken to curb the problems, inflation fell to 36 percent at the end of last year".

Raisi introduced another serious challenge to the government's progress as the issue of unfair allocation of subsidies for basic goods through the distribution of currency, and said, "From the very first days of the government, almost all economists and experts warned us that we should think of a solution to the serious problems of the country".

Stating that many believe that the government is working hard in this field, Dr Raisi continued, "The government considers itself people's servant. This must be done as a necessity for economic reform, and of course one should not run away from a difficult decision and be terrified of it. Thank God, this issue is considered by the government, the parliament and the judiciary as an economic reform".

Stating that the government, the judiciary and the parliament have the same opinion on the need for an economic reform, the President said, "Deciding on the removal of the subsidised exchange rate requires consensus, explaining the public about it and preparing the infrastructure".

"Today, everyone believes that the subsidised exchange rate or having two or more exchange rates must be resolved one way or another, but there are some disagreements on when to do it, which is fine," he said.

He also went on to state that the scheme to making the subsidies fair is based on expert opinion, saying, "This subsidy was being given to the importer until today, which has made some problems that everyone knows. This must be given to the last chain of the supply chain, which is the consumer, so that they can manage it on their own".

Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi continued, "The subsidies that are allocated to medicine will be given to the insurance companies, and they will provide people with medicine with the same price it used to be".

On the plan to provide families with electronic coupons, the President said, "These coupons are a way towards more justice, and they will not lead to the increase in prices".

Stating that we will not abandon the market so that goods are sold at any price, he said, "The Consumer Protection Organisation is obliged to announce the price of goods, and the supervisory bodies will seriously monitor the process".

"From the first day in office, I knew that I had to make tough decisions and sometimes put my reputation on the line so that people's livelihood is not abused by abusers," he said.

On the reform of the insurance, he said, "One of the wishes that people and governments have always had was public insurance. Today, we can say that with these 5 million people who are now covered by insurance, a great move has taken place in the insurance system".

At the end of his speech, Dr Raisi called on all guilds and unions to help monitor the market so that prices do not increase, saying, "All we are trying to do is to serve the people and the government has entered the stage with a serious will in this regard".

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