Between 15 and 20 percent of Tehran supermarkets have closed due to the harsh economic climate, the head of the Tehran Supermarket Union has said.
Speaking to Rokna News Agency, Saeed Derakhshani was quoted as saying that “an increase in the cost of consumer goods”, “reduction in people’s purchasing power”, “low sales”, “increased taxes” and “high rents” were the main factors behind the shuttering of stores, though no time-frame was given in the article.
Derakhshani added that if inflation continued to rise at the current eye-watering rates, ordinary households would find themselves able to purchase even less. At the same time, he predicted trade union activities in the sector would be shut down.
According to the Statistical Center of Iran the inflation rate for food and beverages in Iran stood at 61.6 percent in September 2021. The year-on-year inflation rate stood at 45.8 percent, an increase of 0.06 percent on the previous month.
Earlier this year, many Tehran shopkeepers opted to stay open in defiance of lockdown rules in a bid to boost flagging sales. On August 26, 2021, Ghasem Ali Hassani, the secretary of Iran’s Wholesale Food Union, said the overall price of many staple food items had risen by 30 to 90 percent since the beginning of the year.
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