Inflation In Iran Remains As High As 60%

The Central Bank of Iran says the point-to-point inflation in the second month of the year (April 21-May 20) rose by 59.7 compared to the same period last year.

The Ecoiran website quoted a Central Bank source last month who claimed inflation in the first Iranian month of the year (March 21-April 20) rose by 68.7%. Just in that one-month prices jumped 5.2 percent, with the previous month witnessing another substantial hike of 6.6 percent.

However, Mohammadreza Farzin, the Head of the Central Bank promised on Monday that inflation will have a noticeable decrease next month.

One year ago, the rial was trading at around 300,000 to the dollar, while in early May it dropped to as low as 550,000 but currently it stands at 490,000.

The rial’s catastrophic drop tells the story of inflation in Iran. The country must import a large part of its food, animal feed, medicines, raw materials, and finished goods it needs. As the local currency loses value, imports become more expensive and higher prices have to be passed on to consumers.

Although large-scale anti-regime protests in the fall of 2022 were driven by social and political oppression, the current economic crisis is also making hopeless young people restive. Also, labor unrest began to rise in 2023, as workers’ real incomes declined in value.

Price inflation is highest in the food sector, which even last year was estimated to have been between 70-100 percent. Recent reports have spoken of lower-income families cutting down on nutritious food and being unable to afford many types of fruits and vegetables.