Chronicle Editor
ZIMBABWE’S annual inflation shed 81.04 percentage points in March to close the month at 240.55 percent as the rate of increase in the price of goods and services continues to slow down owing to a largely stable exchange rate, data released on Thursday shows.
Inflation stood at 321.59 percent in February.
“This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI (Consumer Price Index) increased by an average of 240.55 percent between March 2020 and March 2021,” the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) said.
Month-on-month inflation also shed 1.19 percentage points to 2.26 percent.
“This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average rate of 2.26 percent from February 2021 to March 2021,” Zimstat said.
Zimbabwe’s inflation, which peaked at 875.55 percent in May last year, has been on a downtrend since the Government unpegged the local currency, and introduced a foreign currency auction system in June 2020. The exchange rate, which was previously largely influenced by the black market, has since then moved from US$1 to $25 to stabilise around $84.
The Government is targeting to bring down annual inflation to below 135 percent by the end of the year, while month-on-month is expected to average below one percent. – New Ziana
Online Reporter