Monthly Cash Handouts to Increase by 50 Percent

The Iranian government has announced that it will increase the monthly cash handouts to 90 percent of its citizens by more than fifty percent. The new payout will be 730,000 rials per person per month (around $60 in official exchange rate). The handouts are part of the government subsidy removal program and are intended to soften the impacts of the rising inflation and the currency’s falling value. The critics believe the cash handouts are wasteful public spending that has resulted in even higher inflation.