The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has announced that the country's annual inflation rate reached 24.2 percent in the year to April.

Iran's Central Bank reported on Saturday that prices rose by 3.1 percent in the Iranian month of Farvardin (ended April 19), compared to the preceding month, pushing up the year-on-year rate of inflation to 24.2 percent.

Monthly prices rose three percent in Esfand, the last month of the Iranian year (ended March 19), when the year-on-year rate jumped to 22.5 percent.

The average inflation rate was 19.1 percent for the 12 months to April 19, compared with the previous 12-month period, the central bank added in its report.

In its latest World Economic Outlook released in April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), predicted that Iran's inflation rate would stand at an average 20.7 percent this year.

The fund forecast an economic growth rate of 5.8 percent for Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, but said oil revenues would not shield the country from rising inflation, which is the result of strong domestic demand, surging food prices, and higher rents.

AKM/GM