Page 15 - IRANRptNov18

4.2.2 PPI dynamics
Iran’s PPI up 15.2% y/y in fifth month of Persian year
Iran’s producer price index (PPI) saw an increase of 15.2% y/y in the fifth month of the 2018/2019 Persian calendar year (ended August 22) and was up 6.3pp m/m, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said on September 2 .
The rise in the PPI can be partly ascribed to the severe devaluation of the Iranian rial (IRR) seen in recent months, with producers raising their prices to compensate for the feed-through into inflation.
The CBI takes the 2011/2012 Persian calendar year as the base year in its PPI calculations.
According to the released data for the fifth month, farming and agriculture stood saw a PPI increase of 14%, warehousing and logistics 11.7%, the medical sector 10%, education 12.7%, telecommunications 1.9%, hotel and restaurants 12.3% and production and retail 14.4%.
4.3 Labour and income
4.3.1 Labour market, unemployment dynamics
Iran announces minimum wage hike of 19.6%, beating inflation of 10%
Unemployment rate stood at 12.4% in last fiscal year
Minimum wage increases above or in line with inflation have been announced by Iran’s Supreme Labour Council, the Financial Tribune reported on April 15 citing Mehr News Agency.
Iranians earning the minimum wage will see their basic monthly salary increase 19.55% from Iran rial (IRR) 9.29mn to IRR11.06mn (€208) for the 2017/18 Persian year which began on March 21. Workers whose pay is above the minimum wage will get a 10.4% hike corresponding with inflation, plus an additional IRR846,240 (€15.96).
The minimum wage of Iranians remains lower than it was in 2010, when the monthly salary in Iran for the lowest earners was €245. The minimum wage has thus declined 15% in eight years.
According to the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI), the country’s unemployment rate in the fiscal year just gone (ended March 20) stood at 12.4%, 1.4% up on the previous year. Youth unemployment (covering the
15 IRAN Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com