Mulki"s "Bareezeh" and Value of Subsidy: Parliamentary, Government Speculation in Media

  • 2018-01-09
  • 12

AKEED, Anwar Ziadat

It was only on 9 January 2018 that the government announced the amount of the cash subsidy it will pay to citizens in the wake of the decision to raise bread prices. On Monday, 8 January, Minister of Industry and Supply Yarub Qudah held a news conference on the new bread prices, which will go into effect as of early February.

The reports circulated by media outlets and social media platforms on the real value of government subsidy, particularly news published under the headline "Bareezeh (a coin equivalent to 10 piasters) of Mulki," were estimates by Deputy Ahmad Safadi, chairman of the Parliament"s Finance Committee. Safadi had made statements to the media to the effect that "the value of the compensation for lifting the subsidy per individual amounts to 3 dinars a month, which is 36 dinars a year. This is equivalent to 10 piasters daily per individual." He pointed out that "the government will adopt the mechanism that was devised by the Finance Committee of the Lower House of Parliament concerning the conditions of paying compensation to eligible persons in return for lifting subsidy on bread and raising taxes on non-basic commodities within the social safety program."

The hashtag #Mulki"s_bareezeh dominated social media pages last week. While discussing the subject, some websites committed a mistake by not observing accuracy. Some news said that "the government decided to give 10 piasters a day to each Jordanian citizen in place of bread subsidy, which is equivalent to 3 dinars a month and 36 dinars a year."

More than 40 news websites published news and reports on the hashtag "Mulki"s bareezeh" in the wake of the circulation of statements that indicated that the government would give the citizen 10 piasters after lifting the bread subsidy and raising the prices of other commodities. However, these websites did not explain that this value was nothing more than an estimate by the chairman of the Finance Committee and that there had been no decision by the government, which has jurisdiction in this regard.

Quoting an informed source, media outlets reported that a number of economic team ministers would hold a meeting with the members of the Lower House of Parliament"s Finance Committee to convince them to maintain the standard of 1,000 dinars, rather than 1,500 dinars, as a monthly income for a household eligible for cash subsidy within the social safety net. This is meant to avoid the negative impact of raising the segment of beneficiaries by changing the condition that "the income of a household must not exceed 1,000 dinars" to 1,500 dinars to receive subsidy. Consequently, the value of the cash subsidy that individuals from poor and middle classes will receive will drop from 36 dinars to around 24 dinars if the segment is expanded.

Several websites quoted Minister of Industry and Trade Yarub Qudah as saying that the government would discuss with the Finance Committee, at a meeting to be held in the Lower House of Parliament, the possibility of reconsidering the principles it had set for paying the amount of subsidy to citizens. He indicated that the 1,500-dinar ceiling that the Finance Committee set would reduce the cash subsidy paid to citizens and would include segments that do not rely much on bread in their daily meals. These are the households whose monthly income exceeds 1,000 dinars.

Over the past months, media outlets have discussed the question of subsidy. A lot of the media content has depicted the value of the subsidy as a done deal, claiming that the decision on the subsidy had already been taken.  These headlines include the following: "10 Piasters Daily Bread Cash Subsidy per Individual," according to the chairman of the Finance Committee; "32.5 Dinars per Individual Annually Cash  Bread Subsidy," according to Minister of Industry and Trade Engineer Yarub Qudah, during a meeting with the Finance Committee; and "Cash Subsidy for Citizen Depends on Income," according to an official source whose identity was not revealed.

All this news reflected future estimates by the government and the Lower House of Parliament, but none of it provided a final decision on the amount of the subsidy. However, in recent days, news websites published news clarifying that the amount of subsidy has not been determined by the government yet. This includes a story headlined "Ceiling of Bread Subsidy Not Final," quoting two members of the Parliament"s Finance Committee. The two are Musa al-Wahsh and Abdel Rahman al-Awaysheh.

AKEED thinks that many media outlets treated the speculation and estimates about the value of the subsidy as facts. Local media should have clarified to the public that the amounts being published about the value of the subsidy are estimates and expectations and that determining the value of the subsidy needs a clear government announcement.

The AKEED Monitor observed that daily newspapers were an important source of news published by news websites on this subject, mostly depending on informed or official sources, which are vague and unknown.

Showing great interest in the question of subsidy is an attempt to attract the public, especially since some news does not offer anything new. However, news about the subsidy is of interest to most citizens, who continue to follow the subject to satisfy their curiosity.

Several AKEED reports have previously discussed the question of bread, including "Bread News: Press Leaks or Trial Balloons?" "Bread Subsidy…Waves of Confusion Sweeping Across Media, Governments"; and ""Mulki: Price of One KG of Bread Equivalent to Two Cigarettes": Banner Headline of Websites; No Reports in Newspapers."