Monthly Inflation Hits 2.4% In April

The monthly inflation reached 2.4% in April 2023 while the annual rate of inflation has declined, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) said on Wednesday. ZIMSTAT said:

The month-on-month inflation rate in April 2023 was 2.4%, gaining 2.3 percentage points on the March 2023 rate of 0.1%.

This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average of 2.4% from March 2023 to April 2023.

The latest figures come at a time when the Zimbabwe dollar depreciated sharply on the parallel market, breaching US$1:ZWL$2 000 this week.

According to ZIMSTAT, the month-on-month Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages inflation rate was at -1,2% in April 2023, shedding 1.5% on the March 2023 rate of 0.3%.

The month-on-month non-food inflation rate was 5.1%, gaining 5.1 percentage points on the March 2023 rate of 0.0%. ZIMSTAT said:

The year-on-year inflation rate for the month of April 2023 as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 75.2% percent.

This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average of 75.2 percent between April 2022 and April 2023.

Since the beginning of 2023, ZIMSTAT has been measuring inflation using a weighted average of items priced in Zimbabwean dollars and United States dollars.

Previously the rate of inflation was based only on items in Zimbabwean dollars.

Last month, former Finance Minister Tendai Biti the government to measure inflation using a weighted average of items priced in Zimbabwean dollars and United States dollars is insincere and an attempt to conceal rising inflation. He said:

Inflation is the measure of the price movement of a good over a period of time. Any good has one price so the blend rate is pure undiluted heresy and is a disingenuous attempt to muddle the ever-rising rate of inflation.

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