Al-Monitor | Bijan Khajehpour: In terms of economic management,�containing inflation�has been one of the most significant achievements of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani�s first term in office.�The Rouhani administration managed to reduce inflation from close to 40% in mid-2013 to 7.2% in the Iranian year ending on March 20, 2017.�As a result, Iranian politicians have been promising a single-digit inflation rate over the next few years that would help stabilize the country�s economy.

However, the first quarterly report on inflation has raised eyebrows.�According to the latest report of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), inflation in the 12-month period ending June 21�was 10.2%, and�inflation in the last month was 0.3%.�Neither�of these figures are alarming ��indeed, the Majles�Research Center (MRC) had predicted that inflation in the current Iranian year would�reach 10.9%.

However, the question is whether a sustained single-digit inflation rate is�realistic in the Iranian economy. Iran has experienced such low inflation only twice (including last year) since the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988 and the country has lived with inflation above 10% for most of the past three decades.�This article will look at the determinants that will influence�inflation in the Iranian economy and how they will interact in the next few years under Rouhani�s new government.

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