Zimbabwe abruptly postpones inflation data release

Zimbabwe abruptly postpones inflation data release

• Zimbabwe bank rate increased

• Mugabe predicts economic growth

• Zim inflation vaults to record 913%

• Coca Cola dries up in Zimbabwe

• Zimbabwe inflation knocks on 800%

• Zim introduces $50 000 bill

• Zimbabwe army chief fears mass unrest

• Gono: Zimbabwe 's inflation to peak at 800%

• Patrick Mlambo: A 100 reasons why Gono should resign

• Gono's 'sleepless nights' over inflation

• Gono fighting a losing battle

• Gono, the Zimbabwean Napoleon

• Patrick Mlambo: The small minds in charge of our economy

• Chido Makunike: Overcoming the 'Messiah Complex'

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

ZIMBABWEAN officials on Wednesday postponed "indefinitely" the release of April inflation data, which analysts expect to show the annual rate breaching 1,000 percent in the sharpest sign yet of deepening economic turmoil.

Analysts say Zimbabwe's galloping inflation -- at 913.6 percent in March already the highest in the world -- was heaping pressure on President Robert Mugabe's government which appears unable to stop a dramatic economic slide.

Senior officials at the Central Statistics Office (CSO) told reporters the department had scrapped a news conference set for 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) where the inflation figures were due to be released because CSO head Moffat Nyoni had been summoned to an urgent unscheduled meeting.

"The press conference has been postponed indefinitely. It may take place sometime today or later this week," one official said, but declined to say who Nyoni was meeting. The CSO is a government-run institution.

Nyoni was not reachable for comment.

The CSO has previously rejected suggestions from international officials that it has come under pressure to suppress inflation figures for political expediency.

Earlier this year, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official, Sonia Munoz, accused Zimbabwean authorities of releasing economic data that does not accurately reflect the country's entire situation.

In a working paper called "Suppressed Inflation and Money Demand in Zimbabwe," Munoz said a study of Zimbabwe's 2004 data showed the CSO had not captured all consumer price increases, and that price controls had resulted in artificially low inflation figures.

"Controls often result in shortages of goods and the inflationary pressures that have been bottled up artificially tend to explode," said the paper posted on the IMF website.

Last month, IMF chief Rodrigo Rato said the fund was trying to persuade Mugabe's government -- which many critics accuse of driving the country into its eight-year recession -- to be consistent on data and reverse its political and economic policies to repair the damage.

Zimbabwe's government has cited inflation and corruption as the biggest stumbling blocks to efforts to revive an economy hit by chronic shortages of food, fuel, foreign currency, a crumbling urban infrastructure and persistent water and electricity cuts.

Mugabe, now 82 and the country's only leader since independence from Britain in 1980, rejects charges he has mismanaged the economy and attributes the crisis to political sabotage by his domestic and foreign enemies - Reuters
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com