Azerbaijan, Baku, May 15/ Trend F.Milad/
Member of the Iranian parliament (Majlis) Hamidreza Fouladgar has rejected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent claim that inflation rate in the country is around 6 percent.
Hamidreza Fouladgar told the Mehr News Agency that the country is grappling with two-digit inflation rate. The improper implementation is the subsidy reform plan, as well as the ineffective policies of the administration and the judiciary has led to a rise in the inflation rate, he added.
In his recent address in the north-eastern city of Mashhad, President Ahmadinejad said that the inflation rate is around 6 percent. "It was stressed that the subsidy reform plan will fuel inflation and halt production. But, Thanks God, nothing special has happened. The inflation rate is 6 percent," Ahmadinejad said.
The inflation rate in Iran for the 12-month period ended in April 19 hitting 21.8 percent, or 0.3 percent more compared to the same period ended in March 19, the Mehr News Agency quoted the Central Bank as saying.
The Subsidy Reform Plan has reduced Iran's unemployment rate and helped maintain its economic growth this year despite some analysts' speculation over a surge in inflation, finance and economic affairs minister Shamseddin Hosseini said on February 17.
The plan, launched in December 2010, allows the Iranian government to gradually slash subsidies on fuel, electricity, and certain goods over the course of five years, with low-income families being compensated with direct cash handouts.