Financial Tribune- The last time the country experienced a rise in retail bread price was in November 2014.

Despite the soaring costs, bakers say, the government does not allow any increase in bread prices. Last year’s directive by Market Regulation Headquarters authorizing a 15% rise in bread prices only lasted for a day, as President Hassan Rouhani ordered Iran’s Chamber of Guilds to halt the rise in bread prices.

Bread is a main item in Iranian households’ consumer basket—a sample of consumer goods and services used to track prices—particularly the consumer basket of households in low-income deciles, the pricing of which is a highly controversial issue. Therefore, the government is unwilling to take on the political cost of raising bread prices.