Page 15 - bne IntelliNews Country Report: Iran Dec17

4.2 Inflation 4.2.1 CPI dynamics
Iran’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 8.2% y/y in the seventh month of the Persian calendar year (ended October 23), according to the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI), Iran Labour News Agency reported on October 24. The urban CPI moved up by 8.0% and the rural CPI by 9.1%.
The SCI also reported that month on month the urban and rural CPIs gained 1.1pp and 1.2pp, respectively.
The Rouhani administration has worked to decrease inflation in recent years, pulling it down from the dizzying double-digit levels seen during the Ahmadinejad government, but rising tensions between Iran and the Trump administration have pushed up the dollar, euro and pound sterling against the Iranian rial (IRR) leading to prices of everyday household goods rising.
In the latest SCI inflation report, the food, beverages and tobacco category is seen to have suffered the biggest year on year inflation increase. It rose 11.3% in urban areas, 11.4% in rural locations and 11.0% on an aggregate basis.
The report also noted that non-food CPI grew by 1.7% for urban areas while rural areas saw a 1.4% increase.
Only two weeks ago, the Iranian rial fell to its weakest level in the year to date against the dollar, breaching the IRR40,000 threshold on the unofficial market.
4.2.2 PPI dynamics
Iran’s Producer Price Index (PPI) in the 12 months ending August 22 (the end of the fifth Persian calendar month) stood at 7.6% y/y, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said on August 29. The latest data show producer inflation moving up 0.7pp in the fifth month, partly due to increasing costs of metal in Iran.
It published its calculation, showing the rate fell by 0.3pp compared to the
15 IRAN Country Report November 2017 www.intellinews.com