Back to Index

Inflation accelerates to 1 593.6 percent
ZimOnline
February 12, 2007

http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=868

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s annual inflation accelerated to a record 1 593.6 percent in January according to the latest figures released by the government’s Central Statistical Office (CSO) on Monday.

CSO acting director Moffat Nyoni told journalists in Harare that inflation had gained 312.5 percentage points on the December rate of 1 281.1 percent.

"This means that on average goods and services normally purchased by households for final use in Zimbabwe were about 17 times as expensive in January 2007 as they had been twelve months before, in January 2006.

"A bundle of goods and services that cost $100 000 in January 2006 would on average cost $1 693 600 in January 2007," Nyoni said.

Nyoni said the top three items that contributed to the rise in inflation were electricity charges, meat and cereals.

Zimbabwe’s anaemic economy has been on a downward turn over the past eight years with 80 percent of the population living in abject poverty. At 1 593.6 percent, Zimbabwe’s inflation is the highest in the world outside a war zone.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) which cut off balance of payment support to Zimbabwe in 1999 last year predicted that inflation will hit the 4 000 percent mark by year-end.

The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party and major Western governments blame the economic crisis on President Robert Mugabe in power over the past 27 years. - ZimOnline

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP