Monthly inflation slowed by 1.32 percentage points in the month of July to reach 2.56 percent- the fourth lowest in the last 12 months- as monetary policy measures implemented by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) of keeping reserve money growth under check continues to bear fruits.
Comparatively, month-on-month inflation stood at 35.5 percent in July last year.
“The month-on-month inflation rate in July 2021 was 2.56 percent shedding 1.32 percentage points on the June 2021 rate of 3.88 percent. This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average rate of 2.56 percent from June 2021 to July 2021,” said the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat).
The month on month Food and Non Alcoholic Beverages inflation rate stood at 2.51 percent in July 2021, shedding 0.70 percentage points on the June 2021 rate of 3.21 percent.
The month on month non-food inflation rate stood at 2.60 percent, shedding 1.78 percentage points on the June 2021 rate of 4.38 percent.
The CPI for the month ending July 2021 stood at 3,062.93 compared to 2,986.44 in June 2021 and 1,958.72 in July 2020.
“The year on year inflation rate (annual percentage change) for the month of July 2021 as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 56.37 percent.This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average of 56.37 percent between July 2020 and July 2021,” said Zimstat.
The year-on-year inflation rate is given by the percentage change in the index of the relevant month of the current year compared with the index of the same month in the previous year.
Despite the drop, inflation figures still remain relatively higher than sustainable levels.
Since the introduction of the foreign currency exchange auction system, both overall and blended inflation have been on a downward trajectory since the second half of 2020.
As of yesterday, latest figures from the Central Bank show that reserve money which refers to funds banks are allowed to hold by the RBZ for purposes of lending, decreased by ZW$149.39 million to ZW$24.31 billion for the week ended 16 July 2021 as the monetary authority keep a close watch on money supply into the economy.
