Zimbabwe’s inflation rate jumped to 131.7% in May 2022, the statistics office said, as fallout from the Ukraine war hit an already battered economy.
The latest figure is up 96.4% from the previous month, marking the first time in 10 months that inflation has risen above 100%. Inflation reached triple digits for the first time since June 2021 with prices of cooking oil and bread leaping higher as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to data released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT), monthly inflation rose to 21%, gaining 5.5 percentage points from the April 2022 rate of 15.5%.
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According to reports, a foreign currency shortage has left local companies battling to buy supplies from overseas to produce goods in Zimbabwe. The war in Ukraine has cut off a key supplier of wheat to Zimbabwe and also reduced supplies of farm chemicals for local crops.
Earlier in May 2022, Zimbabwe’s government ordered banks to stop lending with immediate effect following continued devaluation of the national currency. The devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar’s black market exchange rate, which is used in most financial transactions in the economy, has been driving up by inflation.
Year-on-year inflation has quickened as follows:
- January 2022 – 60.6%
- April 2022 – 96.4%
- May 2022 – 131.7%
Inflation is the decline of purchasing power of a given currency over time.
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