Iran establishes customs to streamline imports of staple foods, medicine

TEHRAN,May 12(MNA) - Iran has set up special customs to streamline imports of staple foods and medicine, IRNA quoted Iranian Customs Administration deputy director Mohammad-Reza Naderi as saying. The decision has been taken to speed up the release of staple foods, perishable foods, and medicine, he added. First-Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi has said that under the current severe economic sanctions against the country, the administration is committed to support low-income strata of society. Iran’s inflation rate reached 38.7 percent in the first month of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-April 20), the Statistics Center of Iran cited. Inflation in Iran amounted to 25.4 percent on the average during the past Iranian calendar year. The inflation rate increased from 21.8 percent in the first calendar month of Farvardin to 31.5 percent in the final month of Esfand, according to the report. Growth in liquidity and foreign currency exchange rates were probably the main causes of inflation rise. In December 2012, IRNA quoted Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Shamseddin Hosseini as saying that the Iranian administration has special plans to curb a probable surge in inflation during the final months of the current Iranian calendar year, ending on March 20, 2013. Since recent rises in prices of goods are in close relation with rises in foreign currency prices, so we should rein in foreign currency shocks, he added.