TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s central bank governor says the country’s annual inflation rate climbed to 17.3 percent in August.

Iranian state television’s Web site on Monday quoted Mahmoud Bahmani as saying the increase from 16.3 percent in July came after the Islamic Republic began cutting food and energy subsidies at the end of last year.

When the subsidies went into effect, the official inflation rate stood at 10 percent, though analysts said the real figure was closer to 20 percent.

Analysts had warned that slashing subsidies — a measure President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad enacted to cut costs — would propel inflation to as high as 40 percent.

Iran — under sanctions over its controversial nuclear program — has suffered from double-digit inflation for years.