Zimbabwe Now Measuring Inflation Using USD, Local Currency
Zimbabwe is now measuring inflation using a weighted average of items priced in Zimbabwean dollars and United States dollars (USD), Reuters reported citing a government statement issued on Friday.
Previously the official rate was based only on items in the local currency.
In his 2023 monetary policy statement released earlier in February, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, Dr John Panonetsa Mangudya, urged economic players to focus more on blended inflation since large parts of the Zimbabwean economy had dollarised.
The USD is widely used in the country alongside the Zimbabwe dollar and South African rand.
The government relaunched the Zimbabwean dollar in 2019 after a decade of dollarisation, but in 2020 it authorised the use of foreign currencies as part of measures to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, it said the multi-currency system would be maintained for a further five years.
Blended inflation for February stood at 92.3 per cent year-on-year compared to 101.5 per cent in January, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) said.
