The government of Zimbabwe took new measures today, Friday, to assess inflation using a weighted average of prices in both the Zimbabwean dollar and the US dollar. Previously, the official rate was based solely on items priced in the local currency.
The US dollar is widely used in the Southern African nation alongside the Zimbabwean dollar and the South African rand.
The government reintroduced the Zimbabwean dollar in 2019 after a decade of dollarization, but in 2020, it allowed the use of foreign currencies as part of the response measures to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, it clarified that the multi-currency system would continue for another five years.
The statistics agency reported that the mixed inflation rate for February was 92.3 percent year-on-year, compared to 101.5 percent in January.
