according to Deputy Economy Minister Mohammad-Reza Farzin, who oversees the office that makes the payments.
Farzin did not say how the government will determine who is too wealthy for welfare. Nor did he define what wealthy is.
The original law replacing subsidies with welfare payments called for the government to use a sliding scale and make the largest payments to the poorest people with the amounts declining as wealth rose and no payments for the wealthiest.
The Ahmadi-nejad Administration, however, couldn’t figure out how to determine who was rich and who was poor and decided just to make equal payments to all. The payments are about $44 per citizen per month. The payments began last December
Farzin gave no hint how this problem that could not be solved one year ago would be solved now.
The government had families file income statements, but it has no way to determine who was telling the truth.
There have been numerous reports that the welfare payments could bankrupt the government. That and revolutionary ideology has prompted many calls for the government to stop payments to the wealthiest families. But Farzin didn’t say if he was aiming to cut off the richest 5 percent or 10 percent or more.
Farzin spoke only vaguely, saying, “We are currently working to determine the wealthy people who have been registered.… We will concentrate on removing subsidies for those who do not need cash payments according to the law in the coming months.”
