What Can You Buy With 2 Million Rials in Iran’s Economic Crisis?

[Financial News]  

As the value of the Iranian rial plunged to 2 million per U.S. dollar, hitting a record low, Al Jazeera reported on the 26th local time that people in Iran are suffering from a severe economic crisis.
The report compared prices before the war with the United States began on February 28 and those now, as the conflict enters its sixth month.
According to Al Jazeera, before the war, 2 million rials could buy about 4 kilograms of tomatoes, 500 grams of chicken, and just under 1 liter of cooking oil.
Now, that amount buys only half as much. The average price of tomatoes has risen 71% in the meantime, chicken 74%, and cooking oil 177%.
The price of insulin, which is vital for diabetes patients, has soared 642%. Essential medicines such as the painkiller paracetamol have also nearly doubled, with prices up 93%. Infant formula, which is heavily subsidized by the government, has risen 95%.
Oranges have jumped 106%, cucumbers 57%, and egg prices have surged 129%. Jeans are up 113%, T-shirts 78%, and beef prices 30%. Sugar has also risen 21%.
Rice, a staple food, was the only item to rise by just 2%.
The weaker rial has pushed up import prices, but a bigger problem is that imports have been severely disrupted since the war, after the United States imposed a maritime blockade on Iran. Even when people have money, it is hard to find goods.
To make matters worse, wage growth in Iran is failing to keep up with the rising cost of living.
The government-approved monthly base minimum wage through next March is currently 166 million rials, or about 116,000 won. Even with government support and benefits, it still falls short of 220 million rials, or about 150,000 won, per month.
In particular, salaried workers live in anxiety because they have no way of knowing how much prices will rise in a single month.
The rial stood at 1,724,000 per dollar on March 25, but it had fallen to 2,021,950 per dollar on the 25th.

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter