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Source: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/iran-says-cant-afford-ahmadinejad-cash-handouts-142128797.html#T3fqZTz
Iran Says Can't Afford Ahmadinejad Cash Handouts
(AFP) Iran can no longer sustain the cash handouts enacted by former president Ahmadinejad, Ali Rabii, Iran's minister of labor and social welfare, said Tuesday, signaling plans to halt them. The handouts were a partial replacement after subsidies on staples such as electricity, gas, water and bread were cut. All Iranians receive about $15 monthly, whether rich or poor. Despite repeated calls from the government for affluent families to refuse the allowance, only 2.4 million of Iran's 80 million population have opted out. Rabii also said money spent on handouts was harming domestic production and investment. "Since 2010, 500,000 people have lost their jobs in development projects. This is the result of raiding development funds in order to pay cash allowances."