Goods and services Consumer Price Index for urban areas increased 13.8% in the 12-month period ending August 22, which marks the end of the fifth month of the Iranian year Mordad, compared to the same period last year. The inflation rate is down compared to that of last month when the index had increased by 14.1%, as reported by the Statistical Center of Iran.

Year-on-year increase of 11.5% was recorded in price index compared with the similar month last year � down from the preceding month when 12.8% increase were recorded.

Overall index (using 2011 as the base year) stood at 215 in Mordad, indicating 0.5% growth compared with the previous month.

The CPI index for �foods� sub-category grew 0.2% from the previous month to stand at 250.5. The sub-index shows a 10.7% increase compared with the similar period of the preceding year and a 11.1% increase in the 12-month period ending on August 22 compared with the similar period last year.

Sub-index for �food, beverages and tobacco� stood at 252.2, indicating 0.2% growth compared with the previous month.

The sub-index increased by 10.3% compared with the similar month of last year. Also a 10.8% increase was recorded in the sub-index in the 12-month period ending on August 22 compared with the similar period last year. The figure recorded a slight increase of 0.1% compared with the previous month.

The sub-index for �non-food and services� category reached 202.2, indicating 0.6% growth compared with the previous month. The sub-index increased by 12% compared with last year�s similar month of. A 12-month inflation of 15.1% was recorded in the sub-index compared with the similar period of last year.

By Financial Tribune