Iranian government knocked for subsidising hajj

THE Iranian government’s decision to subsidise the hajj pilgrimage has fuelled anger among many Iranians who are struggling to make ends meet.

The government has approved a generous plan to facilitate participation in the hajj, offering Saudi-bound travelers the opportunity to pay for the voyage — estimated to cost over $3,000 — in local currency at rates far below the open market.

As of March 5, the US dollar cost around 130,000 rials on the open market, over three times the official rate, which has stood at a fixed 42,000 rials for almost a year now. The subsidised rate offered to pilgrims will be just over half that on the open market, or 70,000 rials per dollar.

According to Alireza Rashidian, the head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organisation, the government of President Hassan Rouhani is doing its best to minimise costs for Iranian hajjis.

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Some 85,000 Iranians are expected to embark on the pilgrimage this year. The first groups will land in Saudi Arabia in the second half of July.

Rashidian announced that Iran was also awaiting approval from Saudi officials to increase its quota by 10,000.

Aside from the subsidies for the cost of the pilgrimage itself, the Iranian government has approved an extra $200 per pilgrim, also to be sold below the open market rate.

As part of its austerity measures triggered by the free-fall of the rial in the past year, the Rouhani administration has been keeping as much foreign currency at home as possible.

In one controversial step, the government tripled departure taxes to around $50. To further discourage foreign travel, the rates are $75 and $100, respectively, for a second and third exit in the same Iranian year.

To many Iranians, these belt-tightening policies stand in sharp contrast with the generosity shown toward those who travel for the purpose of pilgrimage.