What is Raisi’s Issue with Hemmati? Part Two
The issue between Raisi and Hemmati has intensified under the conditions where the supporters of the government have launched extensive attacks against the former Central Bank Governor, Abdolnaser Hemmati. The main disagreements between Hemmati and Raisi’s government revolve around the current actions of the Central Bank and the announcement of false statistics by the head of the government. In recent months, Raisi has presented statistics and figures that experts believe have no basis in reality. Judging by the public’s reaction on social media, it seems that the variables announced by the government only find buyers among Raisi’s close associates. These variables are the main root of worsening inflation in the country, and controlling them is therefore of utmost importance.
In the first part of this series of reports, the focus was on the disagreements between the twelfth government and Abdolnaser Hemmati in his role as the Central Bank Governor, a disagreement fundamentally over the Central Bank’s performance that has repeatedly surfaced in recent years. The second part of the present file addresses the disagreements between Hemmati and the thirteenth government, exploring the reasons behind them.
Elections and Raisi’s Extravagant Promises
It could be said that the 2021 presidential election was the starting point of the disagreements between Raisi and Hemmati. Experts and political activists agreed on the lack of competition in this election, considering it the least vibrant political competition in the history of the Islamic Republic. Developments unfolded in such a way that Abdolnaser Hemmati was the most significant reformist candidate who managed to pass the Guardian Council’s barrier.
Raisi and his other cover candidates’ lack of mastery over economic issues turned the televised debates into a confrontation scene between Hemmati, as an economist, and the other candidates. Ebrahim Raisi’s unfamiliarity with the country’s executive management heightened the debate between the reformist candidate and the other nominees.
Hemmati criticized Raisi’s economic slogans in three televised debates. During this political competition, the former Central Bank Governor made predictions about the unfulfillment of the opposing faction’s candidates’ promises. Although Hemmati’s statements during the elections did not attract public attention, immediately after the thirteenth cabinet took office, users on social media began to repost parts of the 2021 election debates.
Among the slogans emphasized by Ebrahim Raisi were controlling inflation rates, avoiding price controls, boosting production, halting monetary growth, Islamizing the banking system, constructing 4 million housing units, and organizing the stock market situation in the short term. However, over time, it became clear that none of these promises were fulfilled, and in most cases, the situation worsened.
For instance, in the areas of inflation and monetary growth, some experts believe the Central Bank has not succeeded. Although Raisi recently announced bizarre statistics, official figures indicate record-breaking point-to-point inflation in the past July and August. This approach also exists in announcing unemployment rates or attracting foreign investment. Many economists also believe such an approach is deceptive and lacks scientific authenticity.
Hemmati Exposed the Government’s Hand
Suspicions surrounding Raisi’s strange reports have led economic experts from both major spectrums to widely criticize the government’s performance. In the area of monetary growth and government borrowing, many economists believe the government has bypassed the Central Bank and borrowed from banks in recent months. This action by the government has increased banks’ overdrafts, which results in nothing but accelerating monetary growth.
However, the Central Bank has recently claimed in reports that the speed of monetary growth has decreased. According to the government and the Central Bank, increased oil revenues have reduced the budget deficit, so the government has not needed to borrow, and naturally, monetary growth from borrowing has also unprecedentedly decreased.
Yet Hemmati has published tweets on this matter, focusing on revealing the government’s indirect borrowing method from the Central Bank. Another sign of the Central Bank reports’ inaccuracy is the statistics on banks’ overdrafts.
The exposure of these contradictions, primarily by Abdolnaser Hemmati, has forced the government and even Ebrahim Raisi himself to react. Even state media, including IRNA news agency, directly respond to Hemmati’s statements, trying to portray his revelations as lacking authenticity.
Where is Raisi’s Statistical Reference?
Now, the public is questioning whether the reports presented by Ebrahim Raisi are accurate or merely government propaganda. On the other hand, suspicions have arisen about the source of the statistics published by Raisi.
This is because the head of the thirteenth government has acted selectively in referring to statistics and, in some cases, has even forced the Central Bank to publish unusual reports about the previous government’s performance. Reports that no one had seen or mentioned until now. It is unclear how long Raisi’s approach to publishing Central Bank bulletins will continue and whether the public will buy such claims.
Salehabadi
From the outset, Raisi’s government, by appointing Ali Salehabadi as the Central Bank Governor, heightened concerns about the future of monetary variables. Salehabadi’s appointment, another graduate of Imam Sadegh University, sparked numerous protests and controversies. The connection between Salehabadi and Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, was one of these controversies. Although rumors of familial ties between the two were dismissed, there is still a belief that Salehabadi reached the Central Bank’s top position backed by Mesbahi Moghadam.
Another criticism of this appointment was that Salehabadi was chosen due to his alignment with Raisi’s government’s thoughts and his obedience to this government’s orders, a matter that Raisi and Khandoozi covered up using the phrase ‘coordination between the government and the Central Bank.’
Abdolnaser Hemmati had also issued warnings in this area, believing that such an approach in appointing the Central Bank Governor would question the independence of the country’s highest monetary and banking policy-making institution. The one-year record of the government and the Central Bank also indicates the correctness of this concern. As mentioned, the Central Bank has practically been downgraded from a high policy-making institution to Raisi’s public relations position.
Read the previous section of this article titled ‘What is Raisi’s Issue with Hemmati? Part One.’ Also, Iran Gate has covered an exclusive report and analysis titled ‘Raisi’s Government Fails in the Currency Market.’
- How the Stock Market Shrunk under Raisi’s Government
- Raisi’s Stock Market Promises: Slogans that Were Expensively Cheap
DMCA Protected Cover