HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe's annual rate of inflation last month dropped to 209 percent, edging closer to a year-end target of 150 percent from a peak of 622.8 percent in January, according to a newspaper report.
The state-run Herald quoted figures from the Central Statisitical Office (CSO) saying the annual rate of inflation for October had declined by 42.5 percent against September's inflation figure of 251.5 percent.
Last year the central bank launched a radical monetary policy that aimed, among other things, to tame hyper-inflation which has been declared the southern African country's "number one enemy".
The bank now estimates that inflation, the highest in southern Africa and also one of the highest in the world, will decline to between 150 and 160 percent by the end of the year.
However, monthly inflation figures are continuing to rise, the paper said.
"October's month-on-month figure rose to 10.1 percent from 5.9 percent in September due mainly to substantial increases in the prices of meat, beverages, fruits and vegetable, postal and telecommunications (rates) over the past month," the paper noted.
However, the price jumps are considerably lower than those experienced this time last year, resulting in a lower annual inflation figure, the paper said.
Ordinary Zimbabweans have been hit hard by price increases, and this week a regional famine watchdog estimated that more than 2.2 million rural Zimbabweans would need food aid because prices of the staple food maize were rising beyond the reach of many of the country's 11.6 million people.
11/13/2004 - 18:17 GMT - AFP