Single Digit Inflation Predicted for Iran until March 2018

Financial Tribune - Despite a slight rise in recent months, as expected, the inflation rate for the current Iranian year to March 20, 2018, will remain below 10%, deputy minister of economic affairs and finance, Hossein Mirshojaeian, said.

Inflation followed an uptrend after the government geared its economic policies to stimulate domestic demand by curtailing the lingering slowdown in industries and wild fluctuations in the foreign exchange market.

The rising inflation rate followed a steady decline over the preceding couple of years, but raised concerns that the figure may hit double digits this year, in what many would perceive as a blow to the economic stability President Hassan Rouhani has pledged to bring about.

 “The government is planning to boost manufacturing and create jobs this year, but it does by no means want to give rise to runaway inflation. Our estimate is that a tight rein will be kept on inflation," Mirshojaeian told ISNA.

“Perhaps inflation will rise 1% compared to the beginning of the year and that is because the government is committed to create a large number of jobs. Therefore, it will adopt expansionary policies,” he added.

The average inflation rate for the 12 months to March 20, 2017, which marks the end of last Iranian year, reached 9%. The figure had bottomed out at 8.6% in mid fall, which was a record low in more than a quarter century.

The latest CBI data indicate an inflation rate of 9.84% for the Iranian month ending May 21.