Inflation in Azar (the Iranian month ending December 21) reached 16.8 percent, down from 17.8 percent a month earlier, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, vice president for strategic planning and supervision, announced Friday. The Central Bank of Iran is officially in charge of releasing main economic indicators. Iran has experienced high inflation in recent years, owing both to the previous government’s macroeconomic policies – including the controversial Subsidy Reform Plan and expansionary funding of housing projects – and the impact of western sanctions, which intensified in 2010 following a dispute over Tehran’s nuclear energy program. The Rouhani administration, over the past year, has managed to cut down the inflation rate by more than 50% from its high of 40 percent.
