Zimbabwe’s annual inflation galloped to 1 070,2% in October after a rare slowdown in September, the government’s Central Statistical Office (CSO) said on Friday.
Inflation, described by President Robert Mugabe as Zimbabwe’s enemy number one, dipped in September to 1 023,3% from a record high of 1 204,6% in August.
Figures released by the CSO showed inflation was on an upward climb again.
“Prices as measured by the all-items consumer price index increased by an average of 1 070,2% between October 2005 and October 2006,” the CSO said in a statement.
It added that inflation measured on a month-by-month basis had surged by 12,7 percentage points to 27,5% in October from the 14,8% recorded in September.
Hyperinflation highlights an acute economic crisis gripping Zimbabwe for the past seven years, which has also spawned shortages of fuel, electricity, essential medicines, hard cash and just about every basic survival commodity. — ZimOnline