Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, the Executive Vice President, in response to a question about the possibility of increasing gasoline prices to 80,000 tomans, emphasized that stabilizing gasoline and diesel prices is not on the agenda at this time. He stated that in order to stabilize fuel prices, the salaries and wages of employees and retirees must also be proportionately increased.
Fuel Smuggling Situation and Economic Challenges
During a recent visit to the Anti-Smuggling Headquarters, Ghaempanah referred to the daily smuggling of 30 million liters of gasoline and diesel. He said that this level of smuggling is due to the significant price difference between fuel in Iran and neighboring countries. He noted that if we want to effectively address fuel smuggling, we must focus on stabilizing energy carrier prices. This issue presents an economic challenge for the government that requires more attention.
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Social and Economic Consequences of Fuel Price Stabilization
Ghaempanah further mentioned the social impacts of fuel price stabilization, stating: "Currently, wealthy individuals who own houses, villas, and multiple cars benefit more from subsidies, while those with lower incomes use less gasoline and gas. This situation is not fair." He highlighted the importance of equitable distribution of energy subsidies and added that to combat fuel smuggling, we must identify and reform corruption bottlenecks.
The Executive Vice President also emphasized that the government has no plans to increase fuel prices, and this idea has only been proposed as a perspective for combating smuggling. He stated that reforming energy carrier prices in the long term could be an effective way to combat fuel smuggling.
Therefore, it seems that the government is not currently seeking to make fundamental changes to the fuel pricing system and is instead focusing on identifying and reforming corruption and smuggling bottlenecks.
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