daniel chigunwe
Malvern Nkomo
Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate for the month of August 2023 slows to 77,2 percent from 101 percent recorded in July 2023 as the local currency remained stable against the United States Dollar.
In its monthly statistics for August 2023, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) revealed that the month-on-month inflation rate stood at -6,2 percent despite a gain of 9,1 percentage points from the July month-on-month inflation rate of -15,3 percent.
This comes as the Government and treasury carefully rolled out a series of policy interventions and fresh measures to control the price instability and exchange rate volatility in the second quarter of the year.
Some of the interventions included mopping up excess liquidity through gold coins and the gold-backed digital tokens as well as the introduction of the wholesale foreign exchange trading system.
The gold-backed digital gold coins followed the successful introduction of the physical gold coins, both instruments can also be used as an investment and store of value for individuals.
Meanwhile, the national statistics body also revealed that the Food Poverty line (FPL) for the month of August was at $70 461 which means an individual would require that much daily, to afford the daily minimum energy intake.
The Total Consumption Poverty Line (TCPL), which also includes non-food expenditures of an individual, for the same month was at $91 063.
The TCPL is derived by adding the non-food consumption expenditures of poor households to the FPL.
Bongani Ndlovu