As Budget Review Begins; Threat from Raisi's Deputy; Guardian Council Will Reject 20% Salary Increase

Amid ongoing budget tensions between the Parliament and the government, and coinciding with the start of the review of next year's budget bill in Parliament, the parliamentary deputy of President Ebrahim Raisi has stated that if the salary increase for employees is approved from 18% to 20% in Parliament, the Guardian Council will object to it. Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini said today, Sunday, January 21, to the ILNA news agency, 'The revenue sources are clear, and expenditures must be considered accordingly.' Hosseini claimed that some decisions made by Parliament lead to budget deficits, imbalances, and ultimately inflation and numerous problems. The increase in the minimum salary of employees from 18%—which was the government's proposal in the budget bill—to 20% in the 'Budget Consolidation Commission' has faced a reaction from the 'Planning and Budget Organization.' This organization announced in a statement to the public last week that members of the 'Budget Consolidation Commission' approved multiple supplementary provisions that had not been financially secured or anticipated, despite the government's representatives' objections. In response to the statement from the 'Planning and Budget Organization,' the spokesperson for the 'Budget Consolidation Commission' described the issued statement as a 'media uproar' from Davood Manzoor, the head of this organization, due to the commission's vote to increase employee salaries by 2%. The emphasis on increasing salaries by either 18% or 20% comes at a time when inflation has been around 45% in recent years. The government's claim that increasing salaries and wages is inflationary comes while Ali-Hossein Rayeeti-Fard, the Deputy Minister of Labor, stated in a speech last December: 'The inflationary effect of wage increases is only 3 to 5%.' Experts believe that the government intends to prevent the 20% salary increase for employees in the budget bill and also to stop the increase in workers' wages to the level of 20% in wage determination meetings at the Supreme Labor Council. Accordingly, analysts view the government's coordination with the Guardian Council to potentially reject Parliament's resolution on salary increases as a tool to achieve this goal. On the other hand, the introduction of 'regional wages' and the delay in determining the minimum wage are also assessed as a tactic to stall and influence wage determination meetings. The ongoing conflict between Parliament and the government; one representative: 'Manzoor's uproar is due to employee salaries.' Protests over the livelihoods of retirees in several cities: 'Iran, rich, what has happened to you?' Disputes over the 1403 budget; the response of the 'Planning and Budget Organization' to the decisions of the Budget Consolidation Commission: 'The decisions have financial implications and are not final.' Protests over the livelihoods of telecommunications retirees in several provinces of Iran: 'Half salaries, if you stay silent, it's the same.' Tax disputes in the media; 'ILNA' criticized the low taxes of gold sellers and real estate brokers. Gathering of retired educators in front of the Planning and Budget Organization in Tehran. A labor activist: 'Regional wages can only be implemented with the participation of real representatives of workers.'