As election season heats up in Iran, Mir-Hossein Moussavi criticizes the incumbent president's economic policies and makes a pledge to reduce the inflation rate to a single digit.

The presidential contender released details of his economic program on Saturday, blaming President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic policies for the current inflation rate of 25 percent in Iran.

"Reducing the inflation rate to a single digit must be an inevitable duty of the next government," Moussavi was quoted by Mehr News Agency as saying.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Iran's average inflation rate was 26 percent in 2008, up more than 10 percent from 15 percent in 2004.

Critics have accused the Ahmadinejad administration of fueling price hikes by squandering windfall profits when oil prices were soaring between 2002 and 2008.

Economists believe the falling price of oil -- which has dropped from $147 a barrel in July to about $60 -- could lead to a considerable budget deficit in Iran and increase inflation to as much as 40 percent.

President Ahmadinejad, in a Saturday news conference, blamed "heavy global inflation" for Iran's current inflation rate, saying Iran now has a "stable economic situation."

Moussavi, however, argued that the massive injection of oil money into the economy has also failed to reduce unemployment rate, which rose by 0.6 percent to 12.5 percent in March.

His economic program also stressed the need for boosting the private sector. "The private sector does not have an active role in Iran's economic policies...and we must strengthen it in all areas."

Moussavi, who served as the last prime minister of Iran between 1981 and 1989 will face President Ahmadinejad, former Parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi and Mohsen Rezaei in the June 12 election.

AKM/CS/MD