Prices of goods bought in US dollars — Zimbabwe’s new official
currency — declined by 3% since January, the state statistical office
said on Tuesday.
The figures were announced as Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai returned home after a week in South Africa, where he spent
time with his children following his wife’s death in a road crash. He
said he was ready to get back to work.
Until the Zimbabwe dollar became virtually obsolete in recent weeks,
Zimbabwe’s last official inflation rate in the local currency was given
as 231-million percent in August, by far the highest in the world.
Moffat Nyoni, head of the Central Statistical Office, said items priced at an average of $100 in January cost $97 this month.
No official annual US dollar inflation figure was calculated, Nyoni
told reporters. And the situation is complex, because dollars are not
readily available.
But some Zimbabweans get money from relatives or friends working
abroad, and the government recently began paying civil servants in
dollar vouchers.
The switch to the American currency in recent months saw fluctuations
in prices slowly decline through as imported goods, mainly from South
Africa, became more widely available.
But chronic shortages of hard currency, food, fuel and most basic goods
have continued alongside the collapse of water, power and public health
utilities. Zimbabwe industries have reported a decline in production of
up to 90%.
In several years of political and economic turmoil an estimated four
million Zimbabweans, a quarter of the population, have fled to South
Africa and to Australia, Europe and the United States.
The money they send to families at home is cited as the biggest source of hard currency.
About seven million Zimbabweans — most without access to hard currency
— are receiving food handouts from foreign donors and charities in the
former regional breadbasket.
Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister last month under a unity
government deal meant to end nearly a year of political impasse. The
government has been troubled from the start, with its members
struggling to overcome a decade of mistrust. The death of Tsvangirai’s
wife March 6 further slowed the work of government.
Tsvangirai was slightly injured in the crash. His deputy, Thokozani Khupe, has been acting prime minister.
"I’m happy to be back home. I’m well," Tsvangirai told reporters on
Tuesday. "I’m looking forward to getting back for work." He has a
Cabinet meeting Thursday, as well as a session with businesspeople
to discuss reviving the tourism industry.
Tsvangirai returned on a flight that also carried the top Norwegian
development official, Eric Solhein. He was beginning a three-day trip
during which he was to talk with Tsvangirai and other leaders from the
three parties in the unity government.
"I’m here for international cooperation following the formation of
[the] unity government," Solhein told reporters at the airport.
"We would like to see the release of political prisoners and the return of the rule of law."
The international community has been helping Zimbabwe cope with a
cholera and hunger emergency, but withholding significant development
aid until it sees President Robert Mugabe cede real
power to Tsvangirai, his longtime rival.
Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, is accused of
ruining a once prosperous nation’s economy and trampling its citizens’
democratic rights. He remains president under a
power-sharing deal brokered by leaders of neighbouring countries.
Mail & Guardian/SAPA/Associated Press (AP)
Post published in: News