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Sikhulekelani Moyo, Business Reporter

ZIMBABWE’S annual and monthly inflation rates recorded a further drop in the month of January 2023 as Government’s policy reform measures continue to impact positively on the economy.

According to official data released yesterday by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat), annual inflation dropped by about 5,7 percent last month to 229,8 percent from 243,8 percent.

Monthly inflation has also shed 1,3 percentage points to settle at 1,1 percent from 2,4 percent in December.

The declining trend is in line with the Treasury projections that annual average inflation would continue slowing down to double-digit levels, underpinned by continued tight monetary and fiscal policy stance, and a stable foreign exchange market.

These are being strengthened by Government procurement processes, implementation of measures to mop up excess liquidity such as the sale of gold coins, and fairly stable global commodity prices.

Supportive monetary and fiscal policies, as well as coordinated interventions by the authorities, have been central in sustaining the current inflation deceleration and exchange rate convergence path.

The Government also set a month-on-month inflation target range of between one to three percent and a fiscal budget deficit of not more than 1,5 percent of GDP during 2023.

“The ZWL year-on-year inflation rate for the month of January 2023 as measured by all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 229,8 percent compared to 243,8 percent in December 2022,” ZimStat director general Mr Taguma Mahonde said yesterday.

“The ZWL month-on-month inflation rate in January 2023 was 1,1 percent shedding 1,3 percentage points on the December 2022 rate of 2,4 percent.”

In his presentation on inflation statistics for January 2023, he said the blended year-on-year inflation rate for January 2023 as measured by all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 101,5 percent.

On one hand, the blended month-on-month inflation rate in January 2023 was 0,7 percent shedding 0,6 percentage points on the December 2022 rate of 1.3 percent.

Meanwhile, ZimStat has revealed that the blended CPI was 278,12 in last month, a slight increase from 276,1 in December 2022, and 138,02 in January 2022.

“The ZWL CPI was 13 819,67 in January, 13 672,91 in December 2022, and 4 189,97 in January 2022,” said Mr. Mahonde.

“The Food Poverty Line (FPL) for one person in January 2023 was $22 385,00.”
FPL represents the amount of money that an individual will require to afford the required daily minimum energy intake of 2 100 calories. -@SikhulekelaniM1