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Zimbabwe August inflation rises to 265.1 pct yr/yr
Reuters
September 12, 2005

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HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's inflation rate accelerated to 265.1 percent in the year to August from 254.8 percent in July, the Central Statistical Office said on Monday.

President Robert Mugabe's government has singled out inflation as the biggest scourge to the economy and analysts doubt it will retreat to 80 percent by the end of the year as forecast by the central bank.

Inflation has retreated from a record of 623 percent in January 2004, but remains among the highest in the world as Zimbabweans struggle with soaring prices and a collapsing local currency.

Fuel prices doubled last week, on the back of rising international prices and a weaker Zimbabwe dollar, spelling further doom for urban commuters whose salaries have failed to keep up with rising costs.

The economy has contracted by more than 30 percent in the last six years and last month Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa lowered growth forecasts for 2005 further to below 2 percent from earlier estimates of 3.5 percent.

The CSO however said month-on-month inflation had slowed to 8.3 percent in August compared to 47 percent in July.

Mugabe has denied charges that he has run down one of Africa's most promising economies through skewed policies, including the land seizures which critics say have disrupted agricultural activity and, together with drought, led to chronic food shortages since 2000.

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