TEHRAN (Reuters) -- Iran's state television chief said on Tuesday his organization would still report the market price of goods despite Ahmadinejad's criticism that the media was exaggerating inflation by not citing official prices.

Some lawmakers and the opposition press have become increasingly critical of the government for failing to rein in rising prices, although President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says inflation is under control and the media is exaggerating.

In a government report, Ahmadinejad had specifically pointed out a television broadcast that he said cited the $232 free market price for gold coins while the central bank sold them for $172, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.

"The market prices should be the basis for any price that is announced from the television," state television head, Ezzatollah Zarghami, was quoted as saying by IRNA.

"We will definitely not act in line with the president's opinion," Zarghami said, adding that if television failed to report market prices it would lose "the people's trust".

"When it is said that the official red meat price is 39,000 rials ($4.30), while it is sold for 60,000 rials ($6.60), we must report it," he said.

It was not immediately clear what he meant by the official price for meat, but some analysts say Ahmadinejad's government has sought to impose prices on merchants for some goods, particularly during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Prices often rise during Ramadan when many Iranians entertain friends and family at home in the evening when the fast ends. But grumblings about recent price hikes predate that.

The central bank reported year-on-year inflation of 12.9 percent in the year to Aug. 22, compared to 12.0 percent in the 12 months to July 22, suggesting inflation is gathering pace.

Analysts say official figures may underestimate what Iranians pay. They say prices are being driven higher because the government is dipping into petrodollar reserves for budget support to meet the president's election pledge to spread Iran's oil wealth more fairly.

"The extent of high prices (is) revealed to everybody. Maybe the president does not have time to watch all television programs or receives reports that are truly defective and wrong," Zarghami said.