Zimbabwe Central Bank Maintains Policy Rate at 35%

The Central Bank in Zimbabwe announced on Wednesday that its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 35%. The bank stated that the decision was made to maintain a tight policy stance to anchor inflation expectations.

Zimbabwe Central Bank Maintains Policy Rate at 35%
John Mushayavanhu, governor of Zimbabwe’s central bank, holds up a new currency unit called ZiG during a news conference in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Friday, April 5, 2024. Zimbabwe, in its latest bid to end the serial collapse of the local dollar, has replaced it with a new unit called ZiG, which will be backed by a basket of foreign currencies, gold and other precious metals. Photographer: Cynthia R Matonhodze/Bloomberg

In September, the central bank allowed the country’s newly introduced currency, Zimbabwe Gold, to depreciate by over 40% and raised the policy rate to 35%. This devaluation led to a sharp rise in inflation in October, with prices increasing by 37.2% month-on-month in local currency terms. However, November saw a slowdown in inflation, with the month-on-month rate dropping to 11.7%.

In his budget speech last week, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube projected that economic growth would accelerate next year as the country recovers from a severe drought.

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