Zimbabwe’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 135,1%in the year to August, after climbing 123,5% in July, figures from the Central Statistical Office showed on Wednesday.
The annual inflation rate has climbed steadily since breaching the 100% mark in November 2001 as the country grapples with a deepening economic crisis which many blame on the policies of President Robert Mugabe.
The CSO attributed the latest rise mainly to increases in the average price of beverages, meat, and clothing.
On a monthly basis, consumer price inflation rose by 11,5% from 8,8% the previous month.
The country is in its fourth year of recession, grappling with a foreign currency shortage since 1999 and food shortages affecting millions of people after a poor harvest blamed on drought and Mugabe’s controversial land reforms.
The country plunged into crisis in early 2000 when Mugabe allowed pro-government militants to invade white-owned farms in support of a campaign to redistribute farmland to landless blacks. – Reuters