The inflation rate in Zimbabwe jumped to nearly 40% in October, as the country continues to face an economic crunch.
The inflation rate in our northern neighbour reached 38.8% in October, mainly powered by an increase in the cost of food and beverages. The inflation rate in September was just under 18%.
Annual inflation data is not available from the country at the moment as government has stopped publishing it. It has undertaken to resume reporting on inflation in February next year.
However, Joseph Cotterill, the Southern African correspondent of the Financial Times, said on Twitter that inflation in October, compared to the equivalent month in 2018, had reached 440%.
The Zimbabwean economy is once again in dire straits, and to add to Zimbabwe’s woes, the country’s state doctors recently went on strike to demand salary increases. Doctors in the state sector earn only about R1 500 per month.