“The year-on-year inflation rate (annual percentage change) for the month of June 2008 as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 11 268 758.9 percent, gaining 9 035 045.5 percentage points on the May 2008 rate of 2 233 713.4 percent, ” the state’s Central Statistical Office said on Tuesday
“This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average of 11 268 758.9 percent between June 2007 and June 2008, added the CSO that has in recent months shown reluctance to divulge inflation data, apparently to avoid exposing Mugabe’s government.Â
Inflation – which most economists believe is much higher than the CSO cares to admit – is the most visible sign of a deep recession that has left the majority of the 12 million Zimbabweans mired in poverty as unemployment rockets amid shortages of food, hard cash and every basic survival commodity.
Critics blame the crisis on repression and wrong policies by Mugabe who has ruled Zimbabwe since the once prosperous southern African country’s 1980 independence from Britain.
But Mugabe, who has refused to cede power to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in a deal that could unlock foreign aid vital to economic recovery, denies hat his policies are to blame for Zimbabwe’s meltdown and instead says he is being sabotaged by Western governments opposed to his rule. – ZimOnline
Post published in: News