RBZ Projects Year-End Inflation To Be Higher Than Expected

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Dr John Panonetsa Mangudya now expects the annual inflation rate to end the year between 35 per cent and 53 per cent, up from an earlier estimate of 25 per cent to 35 per cent.

Mangudya attributes the change to the rising parallel market rates. The central bank’s governor said in the statement dated September 27:

Developments on the parallel market for foreign exchange are likely to exert further inflationary pressures in the economy.

In view of recent developments, annual inflation is likely to end the year between 35 percent to 53 percent, up from the revised year-end targets of between 25 percent and 35 percent.

Meanwhile, the month-on-month inflation rate in September was at 4.73 per cent, representing an increase of 0.55 per cent from the August 2021 rate of 4.18 per cent.

On the black market, the Zimbabwe dollar has weakened from around 130 to the U.S. dollar in April to about 200 for electronic transactions.

The official rate has gone from about 84 to 87 to the United States dollar.

The Central bank recently announced measures to curb the parallel market rate.

In addition to efforts being made by the central bank, Treasury has also said it will get the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to carry out impromptu audits of corporate activities.

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