Iranians opt to ‘buy now, pay later’ as cost of living spirals

{"text":[[{"start":7.88,"text":"Iranian businesses are increasingly resorting to “buy now, pay later” schemes and other tactics to attract customers as the cost of living spirals out of control following months of war with the US."}],[{"start":20.3,"text":"In recent weeks, billboards from companies such as Iran’s SnappPay have popped up along the streets of Tehran offering consumers deferred payments on everything from clothing and mobile phones to gold and holiday travel, as growing numbers of Iranians find they have less and less money to spend."}],[{"start":37.3,"text":"“A better way to own a fridge: buy in instalments with TechnoPay” reads one billboard."}],[{"start":43.32,"text":"Delivery services, including SnappPay’s delivery arm SnappFood, have also put up advertisements offering half-sized portions of pizzas and Iranian stews such as ghormeh sabzi."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":53.84,"text":"The sales tactics are the latest sign of deepening economic distress in a country where the US-Israeli war and the American blockade of Iranian ports have exacerbated inflation, helping push even basic expenses out of reach for many people."}],[{"start":68.04,"text":"Even before the conflict began in February, Iranians had struggled with years of price rises, sanctions and economic mismanagement that had eroded living standards."}],[{"start":77.72,"text":"But the disruption wrought by the war and the ensuing tussle for control over the Strait of Hormuz has worsened this trend. Annual inflation has remained above 80 per cent for three consecutive months while Iran’s currency, the rial, has tumbled to a series of new lows."}],[{"start":93.68,"text":"The prevalence of “buy now, pay later” offers shows the “desperation of producers and suppliers . . . as inflationary pressures reduce people’s purchasing power”, said Ali Saedvandi, economist and founder of EconClinic, a private banking and economics training institute in Tehran."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":109.72,"text":"In addition to individual shop owners introducing instalment plans, there are now more than a dozen online platforms offering purchases on credit, some without extra fees or interest. SnappPay allows customers to pay without interest either at the end of the month or in four monthly instalments, with a credit ceiling of 500mn rials for most customers (roughly $270)."}],[{"start":131.28,"text":"Saedvandi said selling in instalments without fees in a high-inflation economy meant the merchant ultimately received less money because the value of the currency declines over the course of several months. But some businesses are forced to sell goods at a loss because “sales have fallen sharply and the market is experiencing severe stagflation”, he said."}],[{"start":152.36,"text":"The US has sought to pile economic pressure on Iran in order to force the regime to capitulate, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and make a deal to end the war, with President Donald Trump telling Axios that Iran “is in very bad shape”. “We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” he said."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":171.84,"text":"Before an April ceasefire, the US and Israel bombed Iranian steel plants and petrochemical facilities, adding to what the regime estimates is $270bn in war damage. Washington last month reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports after an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed before the war — collapsed."}],[{"start":196.16,"text":"The conflict has affected all aspects of daily life in Iran. Food inflation reached nearly 130 per cent in the month ending July 22, according to Iran’s statistical centre. The joblessness rate for spring 2026 was recorded at 9.1 per cent, rising from a year earlier, with 2.5mn people aged 15 and over unemployed."}],[{"start":217.8,"text":"At a fresh produce market in eastern Tehran, Neda, a 29-year-old mother of two, was picking through crates of bruised and blemished potatoes and bell peppers on sale. “This is how I feed my children.”"}],[{"start":229.5,"text":"“We already lived hand to mouth,” she said of her family’s lifestyle, which “went further downhill” after the war. With her husband earning 260mn rials per month, the four-person household lives on less than $5 a day."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":243.68,"text":"Iran believes it can survive the economic pressure. It has spent years creating what it calls a “resistance economy”, designed to be self-sufficient enough to endure sanctions, isolation and conflict — even as it presides over deepening economic malaise and popular disillusionment."}],[{"start":259.72,"text":"The country’s regime and military leadership are wagering that their greater pain threshold will allow them to come out on top in their stand-off with the US and that higher global energy prices stemming from the closure of the strait will eventually force Trump to back down."}],[{"start":277.16,"text":"But President Masoud Pezeshkian, who oversees day-to-day domestic governance, warned last week of the cost to the Iranian people."}],[{"start":285.54,"text":"“The most important concern for me — not that the US will attack again, because I am confident in the people’s resistance and the capability of our armed forces — is the livelihood and economic situation of the people,” he said."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":299.48,"text":"It was economic grievances that triggered mass anti-regime protests in December and January, which roiled the nation for weeks before being crushed in a brutal crackdown."}],[{"start":310.36,"text":"There has been no sign of domestic unrest since the start of the war. But experts say that the current shift in consumption patterns signals that people are readying for long-term pain."}],[{"start":321.2,"text":"Saedvandi said the large number of Iranians selling their gold holdings to finance personal expenses and the decline in the consumption of essential goods signalled that “people have come to accept that declining living standards and incomes are likely to persist”."}],[{"start":337.06,"text":"The government introduced a food voucher programme designed to ease the financial pressure, paying roughly $5 a month to 80mn Iranians — the large majority of the population."}],[{"start":348.3,"text":"But inflation has already eroded the value of those vouchers, and Pezeshkian said last week that his administration was planning to raise the amount by cutting assistance for higher-income recipients."}],[{"start":359.34,"text":"In Seyyed Khandan, an upper-middle-class neighbourhood, an employee at a municipal fresh market — where produce is sold below market prices to make groceries more affordable — said the number of customers had dropped from 1,200 to around 400 a day. “Revenues have fallen dramatically,” he said."}],[{"start":377.7,"text":"Budget-friendly food trucks have become increasingly popular around the city. Lamb kebabs, a hallmark of Persian cuisine, have disappeared from the diets of many families due to rising prices, replaced by smaller dishes of grilled liver, a cheaper alternative."}],[{"start":391.74,"text":"A cashier at a popular falafel shop on Tehran’s Shariati Street said the business had lost about half of its customers since the war. Although falafel, made from chickpeas, has always been considered an inexpensive meal, “the cost of ingredients has risen sharply”."}],[{"start":413.06,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786604427_2420.mp3"}