Zim inflation gallops in October

Harare (New Ziana) – Zimbabwe’s month-on-month inflation for October stood at 38.75 percent, double that of the previous month, latest official data shows.

The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) said inflation gained 21.03 percentage points in the month, compared to September on the back of raging retail prices.

“The month on month inflation rate in October 2019 was 38.75 percent gaining 21.03 percentage points on the September 2019 rate of 17.72 percent,” Zimstat said.

“This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI (Consumer Price Index) increased by an average rate of 38.75 percent from September 2019 to October 2019.”

Month-on-month food and non alcoholic beverages inflation rate stood at 48.35percent during the period, having gained 28.80 percentage points from the previous weekend.

The jump in prices comes against the background of stagnant incomes for most employees.

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Mthuli Ncube, in the 2020 National Budget presented on Thursday said a depreciating exchange rate of the local currency accounted for the jump in inflation.

“In the outlook, inflation will be determined by exchange rate movements, wage developments, fiscal and monetary policies, as well as exogenous factors such as climatic conditions,” he said.

Government expects monthly inflation to fall to single digit in the first quarter of 2020.

The Zimbabwean government in July suspended the production of annual inflation statistics until February next year following currency changes, the authorities said required Zimstat to build up a new data base for prices using the Zimbabwean dollar as opposed to the United States dollar which was being used up to early this year.
New Ziana