Three million families not to receive subsidies

TEHRAN,Dec.28 (MNA)--The second phase of implementing the Subsidy Reform Plan has envisaged removing subsidies of some three million Iranian families, the Iranian parliament’s economic committee speaker said earlier this month. Nasser Mousavi told that the administration is planning to pay more cash subsidies to the economically vulnerable strata and cut subsidies of the well-off families. The Iranian government is facing 100 trillion rials (some $10 billion) budge deficit due to unlawful expenditures for implementing the Subsidy Reform Plan, a member of the parliament stated earlier. Ja’far Qaderi added that the government has so far earned 170 trillion rials out of implementing the plan, but paid around 270 trillion rials to people and industries as cash subsidies. The subsidy reform plan, launched in December 2010, allows the Iranian government to gradually slash subsidies on fuel, electricity, and certain goods over the course of five years, with low-income families being compensated with direct cash handouts