Govt Adopts “Blended” Inflation Rate Based On USD, Zim Dollar

Business Economy

The Minister of Finance and Economic Development Mthuli Ncube on Friday announced that from now, inflation will be measured using a weighted average of items priced in Zimbabwean dollars and United States dollars.

 

According to Statutory Instrument 27 of 2023, “… ‘rate of inflation’ means the general increase in price levels of goods and services measured as a weighted average based on the use of Zimbabwean dollars and United States dollars over a given period of time.”

 

 

Using the blended rate, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) said the year-on-year inflation for February 2023 was 92.3% from 101.5% in January.

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

Before today’s move to measure the blended inflation rate, ZIMSTAT had measured annual inflation at 229.8% in January and 243.8% in December.

The government reintroduced the Zimbabwean dollar in 2019 after a decade of dollarisation.

In 2020, the multi-currency system was re-introduced and since then, the United States dollar has progressively become the dominant currency in domestic transactions, with USD usage now over 75% in the economy.

In 2022, the government said the multi-currency system would be maintained for a further five years.

More: Pindula News