President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told Iran to prepare for "a great economic surgery, fundamental reforms, and a great construction movement".

He has promised to reveal more details of the plan in a television interview in the next few weeks

The Iranian president's fresh strategy is designed to tackle the country's main economic problems, including its spiralling cost of living.

Prices increased by 18.4 per cent in the past Iranian year, which finished on 20 March, according to the Central Bank of Iran.

"This scientific plan has the backing of many hours of precise technical work and I would elaborate about its details for our people at a TV interview in the near future," said Ahmadinejad.

The announcement comes the day after Ahmadinejad removed Economic Affairs Minister Davoud Danesh-Jaafari from his post (MEED 9:4:08).

Danesh-Jaafari had said that the government had failed to bring inflation under control.