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Business Writer
Prices of goods and services in the country skyrocketed in the month of June with the month on month inflation rate for the month racing to 31,66 percent, according to Zimstat.
This is a gain of 16,53 percentage points on the May 2020 rate of 15,23 percent.
However, the widely used year on year inflation rate for the period under review as measured by all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 737,26 percent, which is lower than the May rate of 785,55 percent.
The CPI continued on an upward trajectory closing at 1,445.21 for the month ending June 2020 compared to 1,097.65 in May 2020 and 172.61 in June 2019.
Meanwhile, Zimstat is now measuring the combined price changes of goods and services in both US$ and Z$ to come up with a blended Inflation rate and CPI.
The month on month blended inflation rate in June 2020 was 29,44 percent gaining 15.91 percentage points on the May rate of 13,53 percent.
The blended CPI for the month ending June 2020 stood at 557.19 compared to 430.45 in May 2020 and 100.00 in June 2019.
UK based Economist Intelligence Unit, in its latest country report on Zimbabwe, expect inflation to average 498,3 percent in 2020, after averaging an estimated 232 percent in 2019.
It further expects Inflation to fall sharply in 2021, to 108,3 percent, owing to moderation in the growth of the money supply base combined with a slowdown in currency depreciation.
“In 2022-24 we expect inflation to moderate further, to an annual average of 6,5 percent, as the RBZ’s quasi-financing activity ceases and domestic confidence in the currency is rebuilt gradually (facilitating a movement away from the preference for US dollars), reads part of the report.
Bongani Ndlovu