Prices fall by -15,3%, yearly inflation figures tumble – ZIMSTAT – NewZimbabwe.com

By Alois Vinga

MONTHLY inflation has reduced significantly to -15,3% with yearly inflation also recovering significantly on the back of the market’s swift response to economic measures employed by authorities, Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) reported Monday.

The latest data for the period ending July 2023 reveals that both the monthly and yearly inflation recovered significantly.

“The month-on-month inflation rate in July 2023 was -15.3 percent shedding 89,8% on the June 2023 rate of 74,5%. This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI decreased by an average of -15.3 percent from June 2023 to July 2023.

“The year-on-year inflation rate as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 101,3% down from 175,7% recorded in the previous month,” said Zimstat.

This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average of 101.3 percent between July 2022 and July 2023.

The figures resonate with other economic indicators in the economy such as exchange rates which have also been stable lately in a development that has seen the ZW$ recovering against the greenback by almost 40% since last month.

However, the consuming public still believes that prices in the markets are not falling in line with inflationary pressures decline as they continue to lag behind in a development which market watchers have solely attributed to the fact that prices are sticky downwards over and above the ‘greedy’ nature of the country’s business environment.

The positive developments are effectively a direct response of the economy to the raft of measures employed by both monetary and fiscal authorities around May 2023 when the value of the ZWL recorded significant losses.

These include tightening the grip on ZWL money supply, widening the usage of the local currency to include some tax payments which traditionally required the US$, and lowering import barriers on basic commodities importation in a bid to ease pressures around the exchange rates.

Instruments such as Gold coins and Gold Backed Digital Tokens have since been introduced to create an alternative investment avenue as opposed to chasing after the greenback.