Iraq Inflation Stays Low In May At 3% - Central Bank Official
BAGHDAD (Dow Jones)--Iraq's inflation rate remained at its lowest level in three decades for the second straight month in May due to lower prices for food, non-alcoholic beverages, communications and energy, a senior central bank official said Sunday.
Inflation was unchanged at 3% in May versus April, and down from 4.7% in May 2009, Mudher Kasim, the central bank's advisor, told Dow Jones Newswires in an exclusive interview in Iraq's capital, Baghdad.
Kasim said the central bank has no plans to cut interest rates. Iraq's central bank last cut its base interest rate by 100 basis points to 6% in April.
The bank also has no intention to change the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar, which has been at 1,170 to the U.S. dollar for more than a year, in the foreseeable future, he added.
Economic growth has slowed to 3.6% this year so far, compared with around 4% last year, Kasim said, adding that the slowdown was due to the delay in forming a new Iraqi government.
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