Zim inflation at record 1 204,6%

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 1 204,6 per cent in August – a new record – from 993,6 per cent in July, suggesting the country was losing the battle against soaring prices, official data showed on Friday.

President Robert Mugabe has singled out the country’s inflation, the highest in the world, as the biggest stumbling block to recovery from an eight-year-old economic recession critics blame on government mismanagement. The Central Statistical Office (CSO) said that, on a monthly basis, Zimbabwe’s consumer price index rose by 29,2 per cent after a 25,1 per cent increase in July.The figures are normally released earlier in the month, but officials said the August publication was delayed as statisticians had failed to get enough money for price surveys due to problems stemming from the introduction of new banknotes.Old bank notes were phased out for a newly denominated currency, to ease the burden on consumers forced to carry large bags of money on shopping trips.Rampaging inflation has been one of the main hallmarks of an economic meltdown also marked by chronic shortages of foreign currency, fuel and food, rising unemployment and grinding poverty.Nampa-ReutersThe Central Statistical Office (CSO) said that, on a monthly basis, Zimbabwe’s consumer price index rose by 29,2 per cent after a 25,1 per cent increase in July.The figures are normally released earlier in the month, but officials said the August publication was delayed as statisticians had failed to get enough money for price surveys due to problems stemming from the introduction of new banknotes.Old bank notes were phased out for a newly denominated currency, to ease the burden on consumers forced to carry large bags of money on shopping trips.Rampaging inflation has been one of the main hallmarks of an economic meltdown also marked by chronic shortages of foreign currency, fuel and food, rising unemployment and grinding poverty.Nampa-Reuters