The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said it would reduce the country's inflation rate in the following months, Iran's satellite Press TV website reported on Saturday.

Iran "will be able to reduce the country's inflation rate by the end of current Iranian calendar year (ending on March 20)," the report quoted CBI chief Mahmoud Bahmani as saying.

"The bank plans to cut the inflation rate by at least 4 points by the end of the current Iranian year through creating a balance between supply and demand for basic commodities," Bahmani said.

He elaborated on the issue by reasoning that the injection of liquidity into banks would naturally result in the rise of inflation rate, however, "the CBI aims to retain the fall in inflation by keeping liquidity injections under tight control."

According to CBI, the annual inflation rate of the country fell to 26.4 percent in December of 2008 in comparison to that of November which stood at 28.3 percent after reaching almost 30 percent in October.

The steady increase of the country's inflation since Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in summer 2005 has hurt the economy of the country for which the president claimed to have developed remedies.

He "aims to pass a bill in the Iranian parliament, which the government claims would enable it to reduce dependence on oil revenues and tackle the country's root economic problems, including rising inflation."

Iran had the highest annual inflation rate among Middle East countries, according to the report of the CBI released in November 2008.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2009)