Food voucher raised by 500,000 tomans for some households; one kilo of meat costs over 2.3 million

Fatemeh Mohajerani, spokeswoman for Masoud Pezeshkian's government, announced at her weekly press conference on Tuesday 13 October 2026 that the credit on the electronic food voucher will be raised by 500,000 tomans for some of those eligible, from 1 million to 1.5 million tomans. The increase does not cover all voucher recipients.

According to Mohajerani, the target groups at this stage are three-person households with a monthly income below 20 million tomans that own no home or car, as well as those assisted by the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee and the Welfare Organization and similar groups. The voucher scheme began in December 2025 with a promise to support households' livelihoods, and its amount was supposed to rise every month in line with inflation for everyone eligible; but after about nine months, that promise had not been kept.

Prices of staple goods and the real value of the voucher

Market prices show how small this increase is against the rising cost of living: a kilo of red meat now sells for more than 2.3 million tomans, a tray of eggs for about 700,000 tomans and a kilo of rice for about 650,000 tomans. As a result, the entire monthly voucher credit after the increase is worth less than a kilo of meat.

Economic experts estimate the monthly cost of living for a household of three or four people at about 100 million tomans in Tehran, 80 million in other major cities and 50 million tomans in small towns, while the income of workers and Social Security pensioners is around 25 million tomans a month.

An economy in free fall

Shopkeepers in the Tehran bazaar speak of inflation close to 90 percent and the risk of bankruptcy, and the International Monetary Fund has forecast that Iran's economy will shrink by 7.6 percent this year. In such conditions, the promise of a monthly voucher increase in line with inflation has been carried out after nine months only for some households and with a meagre sum.

The entire monthly voucher credit after the new increase is worth less than one kilo of red meat.