TEHRAN - The Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) has reported that a first annual inflation rate of below 40% in 12 months as authorities insist policies adopted by an administration that came to office last year has helped tame price rises in the country.
The Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) said in a Thursday report that consumer prices index (CPI) had dropped one percentage point over the month to April 20 to stand at 39.2%.
The SCI said inflation rate for urban households had dropped to 38.7% while the rural families had seen price rises of 41.6% over the year to late April.
The month-on-month inflation rate in Iran rose 2% to stand at 3.3%, said the SCI, adding that food prices had increased by 4.9% in April.
The point-to-point CPI, which reflects price increases compared to the single month to late April 2021, reached 35.6%, an increase of 0.9% against the same figure reported in late March.
Iran has been reporting a downward trend in inflation since September when the annual CPI peaked to 46%, a figure not seen in 26 years.
An administration that took office in August has taken credit for that, saying its fiscal and monetary policies helped contain price rises in Iran.
That comes as the government has reported a significant increase in its oil revenues since the middle of 2021 despite sanctions imposed by the U.S. which ban Iran’s trade of crude.
Experts say falling inflation rate coupled with quarters of economic growth are signs that Iran has managed to emerge from an economic crisis caused by the U.S. sanctions and the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.