By Adedapo Adesanya
Zimbabwe’s inflation rose to 785.55 percent year-on-year in May from 765.57 percent in the previous month of April, the Zimbabwean National Statistics Agency said on Tuesday, June 16.
The report released this morning said this happened as citizens grappled with rising prices of basic goods and a weakening currency in the face of the current global pandemic.
On a month-on-month basis, inflation slowed to 15.13 percent from 17.64 percent during the same period, said Zimstat.
The country’s central bank, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, forecasts the annual inflation rate to fall to 50 percent by the end of the year, but analysts say price pressures will remain elevated due to a weak exchange rate and shortages of food following a drought.
The coronavirus outbreak has hit the Zimbabwean economy that was experiencing its worst crisis in a decade, marked by shortages of food, medicines and foreign currency.
Economic analysts say the government’s budget is under pressure from spending to combat the coronavirus outbreak, which will force authorities to resort to printing money, stoking inflation further.
In 2019, Zimbabwe re-introduced the Zimbabwe dollar it had discarded in 2009, owing to hyperinflation, and ended a decade-long multi-currency regime.
However, with the introduction of the new currency, high levels of inflation have been experienced in the country.
