Alarm As Zimbabwe’s Inflation Rises… – Eduzim News

Tinashe Sambiri– Zimbabwe recorded an uptick in inflation for March 2026 in both local currency (ZiG/ZWG) and United States dollar terms, with rising fuel costs pushing up prices for transport and basic food items.

Information released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) on Thursday, 26 March, indicates that annual inflation in ZiG climbed to 4.4%, compared to 3.8% recorded in February.

Inflation measured in USD also increased, reaching 1.3% from the previous month’s 0.9%.

ZIMSTAT noted that prices rose modestly on a monthly basis, stating: “The ZWG month-on-month inflation rate was 0.5 per cent in March 2026, gaining 0.4 percentage points on the February 2026 rate of 0.1 per cent.

“The month-on-month inflation rate is given by the percentage change in the price index of the reference month compared with the index of the previous month.”

The agency also confirmed that year-on-year inflation in ZiG continued to rise, driven largely by key consumer sectors. It said: “The year-on-year inflation rate is given by the percentage change in the price index of the reference month of a given year, compared with the price index of the same month in the previous year.

“For the month of March 2026, increases in the index were mainly observed on the Transport division followed by Food and Non Alcoholic Beverages division.”

In USD terms, monthly inflation followed a similar pattern, increasing to 0.5% in March from 0.1% in February. ZIMSTAT explained that this reflects ongoing price pressures across essential categories.
“The USD year-on-year inflation rate (annual percentage change) for the month of March 2026 as measured by the all-items USD Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 1.3 percent, gaining 0.4 percentage points on the February 2026 rate of 0.9 percent,” the agency said.

“The year-on-year inflation rate is given by the percentage change in the price index of the reference month of a given year, compared with the price index of the same month in the previous year.

“For the month of March 2026, increases in the index were mainly contributed by Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Transport divisions.”

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mushayavanhu cautioned that inflationary pressures may persist in the short term, largely due to fuel price adjustments. He said: “The increases in domestic fuel prices are likely to have second-round effects through adverse inflation expectations, which need an appropriate monetary policy response.

“While the recent oil price shock is expected to increase prices in the near-term, the MPC assessed that the month-on-month inflation will slightly increase in March, April and May 2026, before returning to its steady state levels from June 2026.

“As a result, there will be a slight level shift in annual ZiG inflation, which, however, will stay within the single-digit level throughout 2026 and the outlook.”

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