Parliament Rejects Controversial Bill

EghtesadOnline: The parliament has voted against the bill obliging the government to streamline the distribution network for providing Iranian households with essential goods through consumer cooperatives, chain stores, guild units and related unions.

News ID: ۷۸۳۹۴۸

10 September 2018

Under the rejected bill, the Consumer and Producer Protection Organization would have been tasked with setting the prices of essential goods at lower prices based on the subsidized foreign currency they receive.

The bill, which only won the vote of 86 out of 200 lawmakers in parliament’s Wednesday open session, was opposed by the government, IRNA reported.

Speaking in support of the parliamentary rejection of the bill, Government Spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said the move would have given rise to corruption, according to Financial Tribune.

“The same people who queued in front of bureaux de change would have done the same, this time in front of stores [to buy goods at reduced prices],” he was quoted as saying by ILNA, referring to those who flocked to buy dollar in the wake of the currency crisis facing the country.

The government ordered the closure of bureaux de change amid the mayhem that unfolded, but lately some money exchangers resumed their businesses with the consent of the Central Bank of Iran.