Minister says essential goods supply secured amid international pressure
Iran is capable of supplying essential goods and foodstuffs under any circumstances, whether through the coupon system or without it, Agriculture Minister Gholamreza Nouri-Qezeljeh said Wednesday on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting.
"In the past 1.5 years, essential goods have been abundantly supplied throughout the country despite war and international pressures, and we have no supply problems," IRNA quoted the minister as saying.
"In the first days of coupon-based sales, occasional shortages were reported which our colleagues immediately addressed, but we have received no shortage reports since two to three days after the food coupon plan's launch," he added.
The presidency's website said in early January that amid continued economic pressures and with the aim of ensuring food security, improving livelihoods and increasing stability and predictability in the economy, a comprehensive government support plan comprising 15 articles has formally entered the implementation phase. The government also announced a major expansion of its food coupon program to help ease pressure on consumers from rising staple food prices. In the first phase, and on an interim basis, the plan would allocate 10 million rials per month (approximately $6.25) in purchasing credit per person for 80 million Iranian citizens for a period of four months.
"In the past two weeks we faced a sudden mass demand in the market; in the first phase of the coupon system, nearly 80 million people purchased essential goods valued at $481.25 billion," the minister said.
According to an ISNA report Wednesday, customs data showed 158,232 tons of various essential goods entered the country in the past 24 hours, including 245 tons of red meat. During the same period, 6,640 trucks carrying essential goods were loaded and departed from the country's customs points.
The minister continued: "Needed goods, primarily essential items and agricultural food products, have been made sufficiently available to the people."
"This situation demonstrates the government's efficiency and coordination across all sectors related to food security, which has been able to meet needs to this extent, and the country's food security infrastructure is capable of supplying food requirements under any conditions," he said.