Ahmadinejad-TV Address
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad added in his a live TV address, "Why can we not harness the inflation rate and fix the economic rate despite spending tremendous efforts and allocating lots of funds?"
He added, "The conducted technical surveys prove that there are several reasons for the emergence of this economic status, which are mainly structural problems."
Ahmadinejad said one of the problems is the low productivity rate in the country, reiterating, "We have a very low productivity rate in our country and do not get an appropriate outcome from the extent of our human power and assets' investment," adding, "We need to tackle this problem at any rate."
He added, "The government has re-defined the productivity system and these new definitions need to be elaborated at people's houses and country's schools."
President Ahmadinejad said, "For instance, we need to allocate the required assets at all sectors and expect them to be appropriately productive," adding, "For instance in industrial sector, if one unit of energy can lead to production of five units of products, this situation should not be vice versa."
The president considered the second cause for extravagance being on-goal-oriented of the allocated subsidies system, arguing, "the subsidies are an economic tool at the disposal of the economic mangers in a bid to support the low income and deprived social groups; for the establishment of a comprehensive social security system; for elimination of the social gaps; and for supporting certain industrial ectors that benefit the society or certain other beneficial measures." He added, "The subsidies need to be distributed in a goal oriented manner, but allocation of them pursue no certain goals currently, for instance in case of fuel, energy, electricity, water, washing detergent, rice, and some other consumer goods we pay subsidies, but these subsidies are not allocated to those groups that truly deserve them and 70% of them are absorbed by three social deciles, while they should be evenly allocated."
Ahmadinejad emphasized that this phenomenon has had a negative effect on our industries and service sections, leading to sales of inputs, rather than the output of work in our economy, reiterating, "In the laws seen in our development plans, our comprehensive social security and welfare plans, and our transportation plans the government has been urged to pay goal oriented subsidies, that means paying them mainly to the people and places where they are most needed, such as villages, sanitary purposes, health and education." He set example about allocation of subsidies in the country, saying, "Only in oil products section, considering the price as 90 dollars per barrel, we are currently paying over 900,000 billion rials of subsidies (9.000 rials equals one US dollar approximately), while using the same amount we can create an economic evolution, proot poverty, an activate various economic sectors, but we spend that mount and the problems, too, remain unsolved."
The president pointed out that government is not opposed to consumption, but is rather after creation of jobs and wealth in the country, saying, "The current apparatus of paying subsidies is very problematic, since it is meant to help the deprived classes, but it works in the opposite direction."
He said, "The government intends to make the subsidies goal oriented," adding, "The subsidies need to fill the social gaps, lead to economic growth, boost production and solve the people's problems." More...