Iran To Set Next Year’s Minimum Monthly Wage At Around $200

Iran intends to set the minimum monthly salary for the next Iranian year (starting March 21) at 56 million rials, which is about $200 at today’s exchange rate.

Mohammad-Reza Mirtajodini, a member of the parliament’s budget committee announced the figure on Monday, noting that it is about 20 percent higher than what was proposed by the presidential administration.

According to Mirtajodini, 6 million rials will also be cut from payroll taxes. The government intends to raise asset taxes next year.

Iran has one of the lowest minimum wages in the world, but salaries were increasing from 20 years ago to about 10 years ago when the minimum wage hit a record high of about $275 in 2010. This coincides with the time when the United Nations Security Council began imposing sanctions to force Tehran to roll back its nuclear program.

Labor groups insist that the poverty line in Iran is now around $400 a month for a family of 3.3 people, so the proposed minimum wage is half of the needed money just to be able to survive.

Considering the roughly 60-percent rise in food prices this year and an over 40-percent inflation rate, most of the population is set to become dramatically poorer.

Earlier in the month, Iran’s parliament approved the broad outline of the budget with a significant number voting against the bill that would raise taxes and cut subsidies.