Wie zu Ende jedes Jahres wurde auch diesmal der Mindestlohn vom Hohen Arbeitsrat neu fest­ge­legt und zwar auf 6.089.100 Rial pro Monat.  Die Steigerung des Mindest­lohns gegenüber dem Vorjahr liegt bei 25%,  bei einer Inflationsrate von 35%.  Im Vorjahr wurde der Min­destlohn ebenfalls um 25% angehoben bei einer Inflationsrate von 31%. Die Geldzuteilung für Wohngeld stieg um 100% auf 200.000 Rial, das Kindergeld von  487.125 Rial pro Kind auf 608.910 Rial.  Ge­hälter, die über dem Mindestlohn liegen, wurden um 12% des letzten Gehalts angehoben, zu­züg­lich 633.300  Rial pro Monat.

TEHRAN - The Statistical Center of Iran has announced that the average unem­ploy­ment rate for the past Iranian calen­dar year, which ended on March 20, 2014, hit 10.4 percent. The figure was 8.6 per­cent for men and 19.8 percent for wo­men, the Mehr News Agency reported on Monday.  The jobless rate was 10.3 per­cent in the autumn, 10.4 percent in the summer, 10.6 percent in the spring, and 10.5 percent in the winter of last Iranian year.  The youth unemployment rate was 24 percent for those aged 15-24 years in the past year.  The figure has been 20 percent for men and 40.8 percent for women.  The job­less rate was 11.8 percent in urban and 7 percent in rural areas in the last year.  Iran must cre­ate 8.5 million new jobs in the next two years, Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia said on November 19.  In August, Iranian Deputy Labor Minister Mohammad-Hos­sein Forouzan-Mehr said plans were underway to reduce the unemployment rate in Iran to seven percent by 2015.  The unemployment rate will fall by one percent each year during 2013-2015, he added.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Presidential Hassan Rouhani praised the country's subsidy-cuts plan, and stressed that his government will implement the second phase of the plan in the next few days.

"The second phase of the subsidy reforms plan will go into effect by the end of this (Iranian) week (i.e. Friday)," Rouhani said, addressing a gathering of the Law Enforcement Police com­manders in Tehran on Saturday.  "We should implement the law in this regard and we know that, based on the law, those who are in need and have asked for subsidies should receive it." In December 19, 2011, Iran began a long-awaited subsidy reforms plan after months of specula­tion regarding the timing or degree of the subsidy cuts.  The plan included subsidy cuts on ener­gy prices, including the heavily subsidized gasoline prices.  The price of heavily subsidized gaso­line (for the first 60 liters purchased by each motorist per month) was increased to 4,000 rials ($0.40) per liter, from 1,000 rials ($0.10) per liter, and all gasoline purchased above the monthly quota was priced at 7,000 rials ($0.70) per liter going forward.

Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced at the time that the launch of his eco­no­mic reform plan was aimed at overhauling the country's economy by phasing out energy and food subsidies.  Under the plan all subsidies are to be gradually removed during a five-year peri­od.  The subsidy cuts (also known as targeted subsidies) plan - encompassing key consumer goods such as gasoline, natural gas, and food - is said to be one of the most important underta­kings in Iran's recent economic history.  According to the former President Ahmadinejad, the ini­tiative would lead to a better distribution of wealth among the public.  Officials say energy subsidies have cost the Iranian government around 100 billion dollars.  Analysts say that the plan is in line with recommendations from global financial organizations which advised Iran to get rid of a heavily subsidized economy if it wanted to boost its economic power.

The resources of National Development Fund (NDF) have grown by $9 billion in the past four months, said the head of NDF’s Board of Directors.  Speaking in a meeting with German Am­bas­sador to Iran Michael Freiherr von Ungern-Stern­berg, Safdar Hosseini listed NDF’s new po­licies as creating regional balance, prioritizing depri­ved regions over developed ones, pre­ferring me­dium and large projects over small ones for gran­ting loans, amending policies and moving in line with the Resistance Economy policies, IRNA reported.  He said all of the new members of NDF’s Board of Directors have a remarkable international background, which is indicative of the policy of the government and NDF to ex­pand relations with international bodies and enter glo­bal markets.  Hosseini stressed that NDF pays up to 50 percent of the costs of project to foreign investors in Iran and invited German investors to enter Iranian market.  “It is in the interest of Iran and Germany to boost trade ties and invest in each others’ countries using NDF resources,” he said.  He also put emphasis on bol­stering ties between the two countries’ private sectors.  Hosseini said according to the law, NDF is only allowed to grant loans to the cooperatives and private companies.

Sternberg said Germany is willing to help Iran resolve its nuclear issue.  Praising the perfor­man­ce of the Iranian negotiating team as “very wise”, he said, “They have attained great achieve­ments.”  The German ambassador said the presence of European trade delegation and minis­ters in Tehran shows that the world has changed its policy toward Iran.  He hoped that with the complete removal of Western sanctions against Iran, the two countries will forge broader co­ope­ration.  German politicians and businessmen are looking forward to the complete lifting of sanctions to use opportunities for cooperation.  “In Germany, businessmen are the ones who sign agreements. The government only introduces them to each other and prepares the ground for their activities,” he said.  Sternberg invited Hosseini to take part in NUMOV, the German Near and Middle East Association’s conference slated to be held in Hamburg in June.

NDF is Iran’s sovereign wealth fund. It was founded in 2011 to replace Oil Stabilization Fund. Its reserves stood at $24.4 billion in 2011 and $35 billion in 2012.  Based on Article 84 of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2010-15), the fund aims to use surplus oil and gas revenues toward productive investment for the future generation.  Accordingly, 20 percent of oil revenues are to be transferred to NDF and this increases by 3 percent annually until the end of the Fifth Plan. The new fund is to extend 50 percent of its financial facilities to private, co­ope­rative and non-governmental sectors and 20 percent to promote foreign investment.  Iran Daily