Zimbabwe said Friday that its inflation rate has crossed the 1 000% threshold and is currently at 1 042,9%, one of the highest rates in the world.
The announcement by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) had been expected two days earlier but was delayed.
It said the year-on-year inflation rate in April was 1 042,9%, up 129,3 percentage points from March rate.
Zimbabwe’s 12-month inflation rate jumped to a new record high of 913,6% for March, surpassing a central bank forecast as the Southern African country’s economic woes continue.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono had warned in January that inflation would peak at more than 800% in March before receding to below 500% in June and declining to double digits next year.
The Southern African nation is in the throes of an economic crisis, characterised by rocketing inflation, soaring poverty levels, an unemployment rate hovering at more than 70% and chronic fuel and basic goods shortages.
More than four million Zimbabweans in a population of 13-million also face food shortages, according to United Nations agencies.
Workers and ordinary citizens bear the brunt of the economic crisis, with prices of basic commodities rising almost daily, while wages have become stagnant.
Inflation in Zimbabwe reached its previous peak in January 2004, hitting 624%. — AFP