TEHRAN, May 4 (Reuters) - Iran's annual inflation rate jumped by 1.7 percentage points to 24.2 percent in the year to April compared with the previous month, the central bank said. The statistics highlight the economic problems facing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, under pressure from many lawmakers, media and the public over its failure to rein in rising inflation in the world's fourth-largest oil producer.| It was the bazaar merchants who helped Khomenini, and it'll be the same merchants who lead the next revolution, and for the same reason: business. |
Iran's inflation rate was about 12 percent in mid-2005, when the conservative president came to power pledging to share Iran's oil wealth more fairly. But critics say profligate spending of petrodollars, combined with interest rates well below inflation, has further fuelled price pressures.
Iran's central bank governor Tahmasb Mazaheri last week said money supply growth in the economy has slowed from a year ago, to 27.7 percent from 35 percent a year earlier.
| And there's the reason for the inflation. |