Inflation in Zimbabwe surged to a 360% annual rate in September from 265% in August, according to the Central Statistical Office, with steeply rising fuel and food prices driving a push economists said could exceed the 2004 high of 623%.
The latest inflation data was well in excess of the 320% rate of increase in the retail cost of living which the International Monetary Fund projected in a recently released report on the Zimbabwean economy that was based on data collected in June.
Reporter Ndimyake Mwakalye of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe spoke with Harare-based independent economist John Robertson about the trend.