Zimbabwe's inflation surges two months after new price measure

Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate increased for the first time following the recent adoption of a new price measure that considers the widespread use of US dollars for transactions in the economy. Per the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency, consumer prices rose to 21.6% in November from 17.8% the previous month.

The agency did not provide specific reasons for the uptick, but a likely contributor was a 2 US cents per kilowatt-hour increase in power tariffs implemented last month. This comes after the country revised its inflation measure for the second time in 2023 on September 28, with the previous revision occurring in February. Both revisions led to a notable decline in the inflation rate. The new methodology combines price changes of goods and services in both the US dollar and Zimbabwean dollar.

In addition to the annual increase, monthly inflation accelerated to 4.5%, surpassing the central bank's target of 3% for the year. Following the methodology change, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's monetary policy committee reduced the benchmark interest rate to 130% from 150%, relinquishing its position of having the world's highest interest rate to Argentina.