Authorities in Zimbabwe have yet again had to delay the release of annual inflation figures amid fears the new figure could be as high as 3 000%, reports said on Tuesday.
Inflation figures are supposed to be released on the 10th of each month, give or take a day for weekends.
But the rate for the month of April has still not been released, reports the daily Herald newspaper.
Inflation is currently running at a soaring 2 200% and there are predictions the latest rate could set a grim new record: analysts quoted on state radio last week said it could be as high as 3 000%.
The acting head of the Central Statistical Office, Moffat Nyoni, insisted the inflation figures for the month of April were still being worked on.
”We are still working on the figures,” Nyoni was quoted as saying.
”You can expect them later this week or the following week. I really don’t know when they will be ready for release.”
The March inflation figure was only released on April 26, when Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono made reference to it during a monetary policy statement.
Gono, an influential ruling party member, has described inflation as Zimbabwe’s number one enemy.
The Zimbabwe authorities find the country’s soaring inflation rate intensely embarrassing. They blame Zimbabwe’s worsening economic crisis on so-called illegal sanctions imposed by Britain, the United States and other Western nations.
But opposition parties and critics of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe point to some of his controversial economic policies, including the seizure of thousands of productive white-owned farms during the last six years. — Sapa-dpa