Zimbabwe’s ZiG currency makes a significant impact on monthly inflation, reducing it to 0.6%, as reported by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) on Wednesday. The ZiG, the country’s newly introduced currency, becomes the sixth currency in 15 years amid Zimbabwe’s battle with rampant inflation. Backed by gold and other precious minerals, it now circulates alongside existing foreign currencies.

With the introduction of the ZiG, the monthly inflation rate falls to 2.9%, a decrease of 2% from March 2024’s rate of 4.9%. Zimstat presents the Weighted Consumer Price Index (CPI), monitoring inflation based on average price changes in the CPI basket, indicating a significant decline in inflation.

Zimstat states, “The month-on-month inflation rate was -0.6 percent in May 2024. This indicates that prices, as measured by the all items Weighted CPI, decreased by an average of 0.6% between April 2024 and May 2024.”

Prices designated in ZiG currency alone notably decrease during this period, with all prices measured by the all items ZiG CPI decreasing by an average of 2.4% between April 2024 and May 2024.

Since entering the market, the ZiG appreciates by 1.9% against the US dollar. In US dollar terms, the month-on-month inflation rate for May 2024 is 0.1%, a decrease of 0.7% from April 2024’s rate of 0.8%. The year-on-year inflation rate for May 2024, measured by the all-items US dollar Consumer Price Index (CPI), stands at 3.5%.