On 6 July, Iran will load 10m rials (roughly $12 at open-market rates) onto food-subsidy cards for heads of households whose national ID numbers end in 0, 1 or 2, and for families already under welfare organisations. The universal benefit, equal to the per-person amount, can be used for a prescribed basket of staples—grains, dairy, meat, fruit and vegetables—through the end of July. But behind the disbursement, a contentious debate plays out among the economy and labour ministries plus the budget office: some officials want to raise the monthly allocation by culling recipients from the rolls, while others seek additional funding without cut-offs. Economists in Tehran warn of a swelling “impoverished middle class”, as wage increases lag the escalating cost of essentials, forcing the state to lean on cash and in-kind transfers.

In Moscow, the Duma and independent analysts have confirmed two parallel adjustments to household incomes. From 1 August, working pensioners will get a maximum increase of 470 roubles, with the pension point value set at 156.76 roubles for 2026; supplementary top-ups go to recipients of funded pensions, those over 80, and former pilots and miners. Looking further ahead, the 2027 maternity capital will be indexed by an estimated 5.2%, pushing the payment for a first child to about 767,000 roubles and to almost 1,013,000 roubles for a second child if no earlier claim was made. Families already holding a first-child certificate can expect an extra 247,000 roubles. The annual adjustment, pegged to official inflation, is designed to preserve the programme’s purchasing power; housing remains the most common use of the funds.

Bangladesh has chosen to deploy tax-code levers rather than direct transfers. For the current fiscal year, the National Board of Revenue slashed the minimum tax for first-time return filers to 1,000 taka ($9), down from the standard 5,000 taka, as the tax-free income threshold rose to 400,000 taka from 350,000. Authorities also introduced year-round electronic filing with a built-in carrot-and-stick calendar: a 5 percent rebate for submissions in July–September, no incentive in October–December, a 2 percent surcharge for January–March, and a 5 percent surcharge for latecomers in April–June. The changes are intended both to widen the formal tax base and to ease the entry for new taxpayers into a system that still counts only about 4mn active filers among 12.8mn registered taxpayers.

These fine-tuned interventions, each calibrated to domestic inflation trajectories and political cycles, will be tested by forthcoming price data and fiscal negotiations. Iran’s food-subsidy increase hinges on a decision over household eligibility. Russia’s final 2027 maternity capital figure awaits the government’s formal inflation tally for 2026. In Bangladesh, revenue officials will monitor compliance as the staggered filing year unfolds.