Measuring the Impact of Price Changes of Goods and Services on Poverty in Iran

Subsidies and indirect taxes are important instruments in order to implement government policy aimed at poverty reduction. This paper develops a methodology to assess subsidies and indirect taxes from poverty reduction aspect. This method helps us to know whether subsidies and indirect taxes are pro poor or not. A fiscal policy can be said as pro poor if it benefits the poor proportionally more than the non poor. For this purpose, in the viewpoint of poverty the concept of elasticity of Foster, Greer, and Torbeque poverty index with respect to prices is used and then the pro-poor index for prices is derived we use the index to assess the indirect taxes and subsidies. The results of this research during the years 1379-83 in urban and rural areas in Iran indicate increasing in price of food items hurt the poor more than the rich and subsidizing these items (excluding beverages and tobacco) have been pro-poor. how ever, an increasing in price for items like health and care, transportation, communication and education hurt the rich more than the poor, and the rich benefit more than the poor from these subsidies.Therefore,a review on studies tax program in order to reduce inequality and improve welfare seems to be necessary.