Point-to-Point Inflation Rate Drops to Single Digits After 5 Years and 5 Months

According to the results of the report by the Statistical Center of Iran on the price index of goods and services consumed by urban households in Iran, the point-to-point inflation rate has once again dropped to single digits after 65 months (five years and five months) and reached 9.9 percent in December of this year. The last time the point-to-point inflation rate was reported as single-digit and below 10 percent was in July 2010, when it was reported at 9.7 percent. It is predicted that the point-to-point inflation rate for December 2015 will also be single-digit in the Central Bank's report. The point-to-point inflation rate in the Central Bank's last report on the price index of goods and services, which pertained to November, was announced as 10.1 percent. If the point-to-point inflation rate for December in the Central Bank's report, which will be published in the coming days, is single-digit and below 10 percent, this rate will be achieved after experiencing 63 months of double-digit point-to-point inflation. According to the report from the Statistical Center of Iran, the average inflation rate in December of this year, which means the twelve-month inflation ending in December 2015, has reached 12.6 percent, experiencing a half percentage point decrease compared to the average inflation rate in November. The monthly inflation rate for December this year was also recorded at 1.2 percent, which is half a percentage point higher than the monthly inflation rate in November. The point-to-point inflation rate for the index of 'food, beverages, and tobacco' in December this year has reached 6 percent, and the average inflation rate for this group's price index was reported at 10.3 percent. According to the report from the Statistical Center of Iran, the point-to-point inflation rate for the price index of non-food goods and services in the reported month was announced as 11.7 percent. The average inflation rate for this group’s price index in December 2015 was 13.7 percent. An analysis of the Statistical Center of Iran's reports on the price index of goods and services consumed by urban households shows that the point-to-point inflation rate in June 2013, when Hassan Rouhani was introduced as the winner of the election held that month, was 41.2 percent. The point-to-point inflation rate in August 2013, which marks the beginning of the eleventh government, was recorded at 38.4 percent. Comparing these figures with the 9.9 percent inflation rate in December this year indicates the government's success in controlling the inflation rate. However, economic experts and critics of the government's performance attribute part of this decrease in the inflation rate to the widespread recession and the loss of people's purchasing power.