Kalabarg Gap with the Real Cost of a Living Basket: How Much Must Households Pay Out of Pocket?

Even with the Kalabarg credit increased to 1.5 million tomans, the cost of the basket of 11 essential goods per person has still risen above 4 million tomans.

The credit increase of the electronic invoice was finally implemented in October after its amount remained constant for months. According to the new decision, the credit of Kalaberg for the first group of beneficiaries has increased from one million tomans to one million and 500 thousand tomans; An increase that is equivalent to 50% growth of the previous credit.

However, the examination of the cost of basic goods in the middle of October shows that the gap between the support credit and the actual cost of food basket is still significant. Based on the calculations, the cost of preparing a basket of 11 items of basic goods for one person has reached about 4 million and 127 thousand tomans.

In this calculation, the price of goods such as rice, meat, chicken, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, oil, beans, pasta, and sugar is considered. Of course, part of the prices used are related to fruit and vegetable markets, and it may be more expensive for the household to buy the same goods from other stores.

How much does the 1.5 million Toman credit cover the cost of the basket?

With the cost of about 4,127,000 tomans, the previous credit of one million tomans covered only about 24.2% of the cost of this basket.

After increasing the credit to one million and 500 thousand tomans, the amount of coverage reaches about 36.3%. In this way, the increase of 500,000 tomans in credit has caused an increase of about 12 percentage points in Kalaberg's share of the cost of this basket.

However, a person who receives a credit of 1,500,000 Tomans will still need to pay about 2,627,000 Tomans from his own resources to provide all the amounts considered in this basket.

Rice and meat cost more than the total credit of the goods

Examining the details of the costs shows that some major items alone consume a significant portion of the product credit.

For example, the cost of buying two kilograms of Iranian rice is estimated at 845 thousand tomans. Half a kilogram of frozen veal costs about 772 thousand 500 tomans.

The total price of these two pens is about 1 million 617 thousand 500 tomans; A figure that is even more than the new credit of one million and 500 thousand tomans. Meanwhile, the cost of other food basket items has not been calculated yet.

How much does the basket cost for a family of four?

If we consider the calculated cost for one person for a family of four, the cost of preparing this 11-penny basket reaches about 16,510,000 Tomans.

On the other hand, if one million and 500 thousand Tomans are allocated to each family member, the total credit of a family of four will reach 6 million Tomans; Therefore, such a family must pay another 10 million and 510 thousand Tomans from their personal resources to provide all the amounts considered in this basket.

Of course, this figure is only related to 11 selected product groups and does not include costs such as bread, fruit, vegetables and other food items outside of this basket. Also, the costs of housing, treatment, transportation, education and other household expenses are not included in this calculation.

Increase in merchandise against the growth of food prices

One of the important points in examining the effect of increasing credit is to compare it with the growth trend of food prices. The credit of one million tomans remained constant from January 1404 until the increase in October; While the price of many basic items increased during this period.

According to the statistics cited in this report, the point-to-point inflation of food, beverages and tobacco had reached more than 121% in September. Therefore, a part of the new increase of 500,000 Tomans can be considered in the context of compensating part of the reduction in the purchasing power of the previous credit.

Of course, a direct comparison of the spot inflation rate with a 50% increase in credit alone cannot determine the exact amount of decrease or increase in the purchasing power of merchandise; Because these two indicators have different time periods and calculation bases.

The more important issue is the continuation of this support and how to adjust the credit against the change in the price of basic goods. If the price of basket items continues to rise, but credit remains stable for a long time, the gap between government support and real household spending will widen again.

Finally, the increase of 500,000 tomans in the food basket has made it possible for the beneficiaries to buy more, but the calculations of the cost of the food basket show that the credit of 1,500,000 tomans still only covers about a third of the cost of the 11-item basket, and the majority of the cost of purchasing these goods will still be borne by the household.