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Hyperinflation is said to occur when the overall price level jumps by over 50 percent in a single month. The International Monetary Fund says that prices in Zimbabwe rose by that amount in March. The IMF also said that the official government inflation figure significantly underestimates actual price increases.
The official March inflation rate was 2200 percent per annum, but economists estimate actual inflation at 6300 percent. When inflation hits 6000 percent, prices are doubling every week.
The official rate of inflation, according to international accountants in Harare, is far lower than the real rate. That is because the Central Statistical Office calculates some essential goods according to official prices, and not street prices.
The four main supermarket chains in Zimbabwe, which keep their own statistics for their range of groceries and food say that the rate of inflation is presently around 11,000 percent.
A shopper told reporter Peta Thornycroft that maize meal, a staple in the local diet and a product heavily subsidized by the government, costs 22 times more than it did in December. Bread costs ten times as much as three months ago.
Previous related post: More worthless Zimbabwean currency
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[...] Zimbabwe’s latest dubious achievement: Hyperinflation [...]
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