A Trade Official: The New Year Begins with Rising Legume Prices

The head of the "Union of Food Wholesalers" announced that the increase in legume prices has been halted and postponed until next year, citing the proximity of Ramadan and Nowruz as the reason for the delay. Reza Kangari emphasized that the price change for legumes has been deferred until after these occasions. According to this trade official, the currency shift for legume imports from the first currency hall to the second caused an average increase of 20,000 tomans per kilogram over four days. Following this price increase and negotiations among trade unions, the Director General of the Inspection and Supervision Office for Basic Goods at the Ministry of Agriculture announced that legume imports will continue to be conducted with the allocated currency from the first hall. This measure has now been clarified as temporary and will last until the end of the year, with a new wave of price increases expected in this sector starting from the beginning of the year 1403 (2024) due to the migration of legumes from the first to the second currency hall. The currency hall shift for food items has been one of the reasons for price increases in recent months. Accordingly, the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade announced in a letter in August of this year that various fresh or frozen meats were transferred to commodity group 22 (currency from the second hall). With this action by the Ministry, the price of red meat began to rise, and today the average price of meat has reached 700,000 tomans per kilogram. It is noteworthy that the first "Nima" hall includes essential goods, medicines, and food items, which are allocated currency at the rate of 28,500 tomans. In the second hall, non-essential goods and those needed by industrial producers are supplied with currency based on export sales (around 40,000 tomans). Experts predict that next year the rate will rise from 28,500 tomans to over 30,000 tomans, and the pricing basis for currency from exports will become closer to the free market. Accordingly, inflation in the import-dependent sector is expected to be higher than that of other goods. The government's estimate indicates that the population is becoming poorer; targeted subsidy resources will increase by 15%. A support package to combat malnutrition has been unveiled; chicken prices have returned to a crisis level. The failure of the "Specialized Chicken Headquarters" under Raisi; chicken prices in Tehran have exceeded 110,000 tomans. The economic disaster of Raisi's government in the first four months of the year has been horrific and unimaginable. The Ministry of Labor reported: the expansion of the coupon economy in Iran.