Has Zimbabwe inflation begun its slide?

Zimbabwe’s month-on-month inflation which stood 39.3 percent in June declined to 21 percent in July raising questions about whether the price spiral which began in February when the country allowed its local currency to float against the United States dollar has begun to decline.

Month-on-month inflation in February stood at 1.7 percent and rose to 4.4 percent in March, 5.5 percent in April, 12.5 percent in May before rocketing to 39.3 percent in June.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube on 1 August suspended the publication of year-on-year inflation until February next year to avoid miscalculation following the reintroduction of the Zimbabwe dollar in June.

The Local currency which was trading at par with the United States dollar until February is now down to 10:1.

Most prices in the country are pegged on the exchange rate, a practice which was condemned by one of the country’s bankers.

Inflation stood at 175.66 percent in June, the highest in a decade.

According to the consumer price index, the all items index in June was 172.61 in June. It went up to 208.92 in July.

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