Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.1
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iranian authorities increased the price of traditional breads by as much as 30 percent, Iranian Government Spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said.
He said the administration pays subsidies for bread each year, so that $2 billion has been paid in the current year to bread buyers, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on Dec. 1.
The new prices will apply to Tehran bakeries from today, he said.
A Sangak loaf will now cost 8,000 rials (23 cents), Barbari, Taftoun and Lavash loaves will cost 7,000 (20 cents), 4,000 (12 cents) and 2,200 rials (6 cents) respectively.
Sangak, Barbari, Taftoun, and Lavash are the traditional kinds of bread which are consumed in Iran.
US dollar exchange rate in currently about 35,000 rials in Iran's free market.
The government buys wheat at 10,500 rials per kilogram from farmers, but delivers at 4,650 rials to flour mills and bakeries, Nobakht said.
The government will continue paying subsidies to flour mills, but will let bakeries to increase bread prices maximum by 30 percent to compensate for side costs, he noted.
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