TEHRAN -- The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Sunday said that the inflation rate for the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2007) stood at 13.6 percent.

The figure is by far less than those announced by other domestic or international sources, ISNA news agency said on Sunday.

The price indexes for the goods and consumer services in the nation’s urban regions in the last month of the past year (February-March, 2007) indicate an increase of 0.9 percent compared to its previous month and 16.6 percent in comparison with the same period in the past year.

In its controversial report, the Research Center of Majlis (parliament) put the rate at 23.4 percent.

International financial institutions have given different figures for inflation in Iran.

In its latest report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that the figure would be 17.8 percent in the current year.