Page 16 - bne IntelliNews Country Report: Iran Dec17

previous month, less than 24 hours after the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI), another official body, assessed the rate at 7.7% .
Much of the inflation reported in Iran is a hangover from the former Ahmadinejad administration which ended in 2013.
4.3 Labour and income
4.3.1 Labour market, unemployment dynamics
According to the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI), the country’s unemployment rate in the fiscal year just gone (ended March 20) stood at 12.4%, 1.4% up on the previous year. Youth unemployment (covering the 15-29 age range), stood at 25.9%, 2.6% up year on year.
Despite the many times the government has stressed the need to boost employment, overall youth unemployment has risen more than 5% in the past three years.
Iranian government workers will receive a 10% pay rise in the next Persian year (starting March 2018), the president’s office has said, Islamic Republic News Agency reported on October 4.
Each year, the government is obliged to increase state workers' salaries in line with the annual inflation rate, which currently stands at 9.9% according to the central bank . The commercial sector is also expected to increase salaries in the same manner, but this does not always occur.
According to the presidential office, the Iranian government will pay for half of the pay rise while ministries and departments are expected to pay the remainder.
State salary increases outstripped the country’s inflation rate for a second year this year. Workers received 14.5%.
The minimum monthly salary now stands at IRR9.3mn ($240), according to the latest exchange rate.
The average monthly salary in Iran stands at IRR23.3mn ($617) per month, according to a report from the Financial Tribune on April 15.
The report shows that living conditions in the country have improved following several years of a drop in the quality of life, due to the removal of sanctions.
The average Iranian now earns IRR278.8mn ($7,416) per annum. However, the report noted the average family spends on average 262.3mn ($6,978) per year so little is made in savings.
The report also added that the average household consists of 3.4 members and that families of four now account for 30.4% of the society. The majority of families (59.8%) have only one breadwinner. Housing costs account for the biggest slice of income expenditure.
16 IRAN Country Report November 2017 www.intellinews.com