Zimbabwe’s annual inflation slowed to 243,8% in December from 255% in November, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) reported yesterday.
Month-on-month inflation for the month was 2,4%, higher than November’s 1,8%.
The statistics also showed a single individual in the country now needs $22 193 per month to afford basic needs.
“Total Consumption Poverty Line for one person stood at $29 219 in December 2022,” the report read.
Month-on-month inflation peaked this year at 30,7% in June.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube has targeted to contain monthly inflation below 3% in 2023.
But analysts yesterday told NewsDay that the official statistics were understated as the country had the highest inflation rate in the world.
Economist Prosper Chitambara said inflation had slowed down, but prices were still shooting up.
- Fiscal pressures could limit govt options
- Thousands flee economic mess
- ZimStat undertakes to pay enumerators
- 'Apostolic sects frustrating fight against measles'
Keep Reading
“Two hundred and forty-three percent is still the highest inflation rate in the world and it creates a lot of challenges for the economy and consumers. The fact that it has slowed down does not mean that prices are going down. Our pricing is still on the very high side — look at fuel, bread and so on, they are still going up. As long as prices continue to increase, then it even makes it more difficult for the ordinary person to survive,” he said.
“Secondly, when we look at our inflation figures, some scholars have argued that they don’t reflect the full extent of price developments in an economy that is now highly informal. So our official figures tend to understate the challenges with respect to price increases because they are based on a small formal segment whereas the economy has now been informalised to a greater extent.”
Gift Mugano, another economist, said: “Yes, we have made some progress in terms of reducing inflation, but we can’t sustain this much further. We have seen the rates rising to $1 200:US$1. The way I see it, this will not bring any hope that inflation will go down to below 100% or 50%. We have taken a national fast at the expense of jobs, slow down on the payments of service providers and also kept our workers in extreme poverty even if they are working on the back of unreasonable wages. In simple terms, we can’t sustain this much further.”
