Iranian inflation hits 26 percent

Iran are pushing ahead with building a nuclear bomb, but can not keep a lid on inflation.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's inflation rate, which has provoked intense criticism of the government, topped 26 percent in June, according to a central bank statement published in the press on Saturday. "During the Iranian month of Kordad (to June 20) inflation reached 26.4 percent compared with the same month a year ago," according to the statement published in the economic newspaper Sarmayeh.The previous month, annual inflation was running at 25.3 percent.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been blamed by many economists for directly fuelling the price rises by ploughing huge amounts of cash into the economy to fund local infrastructure projects.