Inflation in crisis-riddled Zimbabwe is projected to reach at least 2 500% this month, the official Herald newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The paper said prices had risen between 200% and 500% since March 1, the date a price freeze was supposed to come into effect.
The annual inflation rate in once-prosperous Zimbabwe is already at 1 729,9% — the highest rate in the world.
But a new crisis, prompted by the detention and beating of opposition officials including Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, has seen prices spiral out of control.
”It may reflect profiteering intentions on the part of industry or it may mean genuine replacement pricing. It’s a free-for-all and nobody knows what’s really taking place in the market,” economic analyst Midway Bhunu said.
The Herald said consumer spending in Zimbabwe had reached rock bottom because disposable incomes had shrunk so significantly.
Meanwhile, a two-day strike call to press for higher wages appears to have gone largely unheeded in the country. Analysts say this is because Zimbabwe’s mostly self-employed workforce cannot afford to take time off work.
”It’s a futile exercise to call people to stay away,” said political commentator John Makumbe, of the University of Zimbabwe.
Military helicopters hovered over central Harare suburbs on Wednesday, the second day of the strike. — Sapa-dpa