The price of dairy products in Iran has gone up for the third time in recent weeks, and reports indicate that in the past three months, those prices have doubled.

The Fars News Agency writes that the repeated price increases could indicate that they “have lost control of the dairy market.”

However, milk and dairy producers have blamed the price increases on the government’s failure to deliver cash benefits that were promised as part of the restructuring of government subsidies.

Reports indicate that the government owes milk and dairy producers 280 billion toumans, which, according to the Ranchers Union is only part of the money owed to their members.

Reports indicate that milk and dairy consumption is rapidly falling across the country.

The Ahmadinejad administration cut government subsidies on energy and staple food products as part of its restructuring of subsidies. The plan included offers of cash handouts to households and businesses to help them adjust to changes in market prices.

Source: Radio Zamaneh