Zimbabwe’s annual inflation jumped to 175.8% in June from 86.5% in May, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) said on Monday, 26 June.
Reflecting the sharp price hikes over the past few weeks, month-on-month inflation went up by a significant 58.8 percentage points in June to 74.5%, from 15.7% in May.
ZIMSTAT measures inflation using a weighted average of items priced in Zimbabwean dollars and United States dollars.
In March, economist Prosper Chitambara said that using the blended inflation rate is problematic. He said:
The issue is a critical one because companies do not account in blended terms but exclusively in USDs or ZWL so it becomes an issue to have the blended rate as the benchmark inflation.
Interest rate calculation for those borrowing or collective bargaining is going to complicate things.
Chitambara said the publication of both sets of inflation rates (Blended and ZWL) should continue because most employees earn ZWL and would need to use the rate for collective bargaining.
He argued that companies also report in ZWL and will continue to need the ZWL inflation in order to prepare inflation-adjusted figures.
Just over a week ago, Professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University, Steve Hanke, said Zimbabwe’s year-on-year inflation had reached 1 298 percent.
In May 2023, ZIMSTAT said the country’s month-on-month inflation rose to 15.7% after gaining 13.3 percentage points on the April 2023 rate of 2.4%.
The year-on-year inflation rose to 86.5% in May from 75.6% in April, said ZIMSTAT.
Source Pindula News
