A currency dealer shows Zimbabwe's new 100-dollar note in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, on April 24, 2022. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)
Zimbabwe's annual inflation spiraled to 131.7 percent in May, up from 96.4 percent in the previous month, due to factors including local currency depreciation and soaring prices of basic commodities and fuel.
HARARE, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's annual inflation spiraled to 131.7 percent in May, up from 96.4 percent in the previous month, marking the first time in 10 months that inflation has risen above 100 percent.
This comes against the background of local currency depreciation and soaring prices of basic commodities and fuel.
According to data released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) on Wednesday, monthly inflation rose to 21 percent, gaining 5.5 percentage points on the April 2022 rate of 15.5 percent.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced the new interbank rate at 276 per U.S. dollar on May 9, among a raft of measures that were announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in a bid to stop further depreciation of the Zimbabwean dollar on the black market where it is trading above 400 to the U.S. dollar.
At Tuesday's foreign exchange auction, the Zimbabwean dollar further slid to 290 per U.S. dollar. ■
