Voice of America Research Report; Blood Money Rate Increased by 175% Under Raisi's Government

With the announcement from the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, the blood money rate for the year 1403 has been set at 1.3 billion tomans, indicating a 175% increase in blood money since Ebrahim Raisi took office. A review by Voice of America of blood money rates in recent years shows that the rate was set at 480 million tomans in 1400, which increased by 22% to 600 million tomans in 1401, and then by 50% to 900 million tomans in 1402. The blood money for 1403 has also increased by 44% compared to 1402, reaching 1.3 billion tomans. Calculations indicate that this increase represents a 175% rise compared to the 1400 rate. Furthermore, the blood money rate in 1403 has seen a 450% increase compared to the 1396 rate of 210 million tomans. According to this report, blood money rates from 1396 to 1400 increased by 10%, 17%, 22%, and 45%, respectively. During this period, statistics published by the Iranian Statistical Center show that inflation rates from 1396 to 1400 were 8.2%, 26.9%, 34.8%, 36.4%, and 40.2%. Inflation rates in 1401 exceeded 46% and in 1402 reached 41%. A comparison of statistics indicates that the judiciary has not accepted the inflation rates announced by the government and has considered the increase in blood money to be higher than the inflation reported by the statistical center. Reports from the public and social media also indicate that the 'emotional inflation' experienced by people is much higher than the figures claimed by the government. In this context, an economic newspaper published in Tehran on the sixth of Farvardin analyzed the 'public sentiment' regarding inflation in 1402, stating that households experienced inflation in clothing, housing, food, and other sectors that was much higher than the official government figures. The newspaper 'Donya-e-Eqtesad' emphasized that although the average inflation over the past year was 40.7% compared to the previous year, the prices of red meat, chicken, and fish surged by 86%. This newspaper also reported that food and beverage inflation was 52% and fruit inflation was 48% in the past year. Additionally, it highlighted that rent consumes over 70% of 'monthly living costs for tenants.' Meanwhile, the government, under the pretext of preventing inflationary pressure, refused to set the minimum wage for workers in line with the minimum living costs of households, ultimately leading to a 35% increase that sparked protests from the labor community.