Rasa News Agency reports - Today, Ayatollah Sayyed Yusuf Tabatabaei-Nejad, the representative of Ayatollah Khamenei and the Friday Prayers Leader of Esfahan, met with Mohammad-Reza Aref, a member of the Expediency Council and a previous presidential candidate, held a meeting in which they discussed and criticized the government subsidies.
“The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Khamenei] has stressed upon the need to correct the past mistakes related to these things [subsidies]. We should not be afraid of criticism or loosing votes in the next elections, as this is for the good of the country,” Ayatollah Tabatabai-Nejad stated.
“The government spends a lot of extra funds on paying the monthly subsidies to the all people, when they should only give it to those who are in need of it. Giving money to those who are not in need of it, is a mistake,” he said.
Ayatollah Tabatabaei-Nejad emphasized the proper use of public funds and the income derived from petroleum, saying: “it is a national asset and should be spent on infrastructure and and building the country. The people should benefit indirectly from our natural resources.”
“The monthly subsidy paid may be critical for in the lives of some citizens, but for some it has no effect on their lives, thus spending our the money gained from our natural resources can create problems for our country,” he warned.
Aref suggested that targeted subsidies are a good idea, saying: “the implementation of subsidy plan was a very good idea, but it was not implemented properly and has performed badly. Some of those who have registered to receive the subsidies believe that it is their right to receive a portion of the nation’s petroleum money, but this thinking is not correct.”
“We should use the increased value of our petroleum resources wisely. Petroleum is one of our national resources and it should be used for the welfare of the people so those in the future can benefit from it as well,” Aref added.
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