Zimbabwe Inflation Slows for Third Straight Month in September

(Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe’s consumer inflation rate fell for a third straight month in September.

Prices climbed 17.7% from August, compared with 18.1% in the previous month, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. It’s the third consecutive month that price growth slowed after it reached 39.3% in June.

The central bank raised its main interest rate to 70% in September to stabilize a plummeting currency and rein in inflation. Annual price growth surged to 175.7% in June as shortages of food and fuel pushed up costs and the official exchange rate weakened.

The southern African nation won’t report year-on-year inflation figures until February 2020, arguing that it needs the time to collect comparable data after the introduction of a new currency earlier this year. The annual rate is estimated in a range of 230% to 570%.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ana Monteiro in Johannesburg at amonteiro4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rene Vollgraaff at rvollgraaff@bloomberg.net, Alastair Reed

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