A Labor Activist: The Government is Manipulating Statistics to 'Control Inflation'

A labor activist describes the current state of the labor community as more critical than ever, stating that the seventh development plan has been approved by the government with anti-labor characteristics. Faramarz Tofighi has accused the government of manipulating statistics, claiming they changed the base year for calculating inflation to lower the numbers artificially in order to 'control inflation.' Tofighi believes that the seventh development plan unprecedentedly 'distorts workers' rights' and is not only non-developmental but entirely anti-development. Inflation and the daily increase in the prices of essential goods are other points this labor activist mentioned in an interview with 'ILNA,' emphasizing that 'the situation for workers is more critical than ever.' He argues that the wage coverage level has reached its lowest point in years and decades, and 'inflation is accelerating.' Tofighi has called on the Statistical Center to disclose the influential components in calculating inflation and the inflation basket with detailed weights to social partners, so that the 'reason for controlling inflation in the numbers' and 'price surges in the market' can be clarified. According to Tofighi, not only has inflation not been controlled, but it has also accelerated compared to previous years; the government's figures are 'not trustworthy.' The emphasis on statistical manipulation has not only been raised by this labor activist; Iranian media have also criticized this approach multiple times. Most recently, the newspaper 'Asr-e Eghtesad' reported on May 9 of this year that the country is experiencing the highest inflation rate in the last 100 years, and responsible institutions have resorted to cleaning up the 'issue' instead of solving it. Habibollah Salami, an economist and university professor, also commented on the reason for changing the base year in announcing the inflation rate by the Statistical Center of Iran to the 'Samt' newspaper, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, stating that the change in the base year is mainly to 'adjust the prevailing psychological atmosphere in society' to reduce inflation expectations. He explained that if the years 2011 or even 2016 were considered as the base year, the inflation index would have surged above 70 percent. Tofighi, in addition to complaining about workers' insufficient access to food, also referred to the expansion of 'bad housing' and stated that to see the reality of society, officials should be present among the people without cars and bodyguards to feel the pain and current problems of the people. Bad housing and slum dwelling were perhaps not common phenomena among middle-income groups until just a decade ago, but the trend of slum dwelling has significantly increased in recent years due to housing inflation. Beitollah Setareyan, a housing economy expert, mentioned in an interview with the 'Rokna' news agency in April of this year that 'annually, about 4 percent is added to slum dwelling around large cities.' This statistic is four times higher than the global average, and data shows that Tehran experiences an annual increase of about 4 to 5 percent in slum dwelling. According to Setareyan, if this trend continues, Tehran will double in size after 20 years, and slum dwelling in Tehran will equal the city itself after the same 20 years. According to the Statistical Center's report, housing rental costs account for 35 to 50 percent of an Iranian household's expenses.