Despite Government Claims of Controlling Inflation; 2.6% Increase in Price Index in Dey Month

The Statistical Center of Iran in its latest report on the consumer price index for households in Dey month of the current year announced that it has increased by 2.6% compared to the previous month. Accordingly, the point-to-point inflation for households in the country in Dey month of the current year compared to Dey month of the previous year has been 38.5%. The statistics show that the monthly inflation in Dey month of the current year has also increased by 2.6% compared to the previous month. Additionally, the inflation rate in the year ending in the current month has reached 43.6% compared to the same period last year in Dey month 1402. Experts believe that inflation in Iran has reached a hard core and will experience minimal fluctuations in the current range until the end of the year, returning to a slow and steady increase next year. This is while officials of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly claimed a decrease in inflation and the continuation of its downward trend. In this context, Ehsan Khandozi, the Minister of Economy in the Islamic Republic government, compared the inflation of Azar month with Farvardin month and concluded that the government has been successful in controlling inflation. Ibrahim Raisi also claimed on the seventh of Dey in a nationwide assembly of the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary that the government has reduced the inflation trend and this decrease will continue. The government’s claims come as the report from the Statistical Center shows that in Dey month 1402, the consumer price index for households reached 222.7, which is a 2.6% increase compared to the previous month, a 38.5% increase compared to the same month last year, and a 43.6% increase in the twelve months ending in the current month compared to the same period last year. Alinaghi Mashayekhi, an economist, described the current economic conditions of Iran in an editorial in the Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper on Bahman 7, stating: 'Inflation is close to 40% and unemployment is high; the purchasing power of the middle and lower classes has decreased and continues to decline; gross national investment at fixed prices has been decreasing over the past decade; the exchange rate has increased, and the outflow of material and human capital from the country is significant.' This prominent economist wrote about the reasons for the current conditions: 'The current situation is the result of economic policies, foreign policies, and domestic, cultural, and social policies over the past few decades. This undesirable situation has not fallen from the sky upon us, but is the result of the decisions and policies of governments.'