Inflation in Zimbabwe Surges to a Record 1,204 Percent for the Year to the End of August:

September 16, 2006. HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Official annual inflation surged to a record 1,204 percent for the year to the end of August, up from 993 percent in July, the state Central Statistical Office reported Saturday. The calculation, based on a basket of basic goods and services, meant prices increased about 13-fold in the past year, the statistical office said in a statement. Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world. It is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence, with record unemployment and acute shortages of food, hard currency, gasoline and essential imports. The highest increases last month were recorded in school fees, local council taxes on dwellings and prices of medical products. The official poverty line for a family of five rose to 100,306 Zimbabwe dollars ($401) in August, way above average individual monthly incomes of less than 20,000 Zimbabwe dollars ($80), leaving the majority of the 12.5 million population living in poverty. In a desperate bid to restore order to the southern African nation's chaotic finances, Zimbabwe Reserve Bank chief Gideon Gono last month knocked the final three digits from the currency, thus making 100,000 Zimbabwe dollars worth 100 Zimbabwe dollars. He said the move was necessary because most computer and data management systems were on the verge of collapse because they could not handle all the digits. Government critics trace Zimbabwe's crisis to chronic overspending during the 1990s and a breakdown in property rights, culminating in the seizure of more than 5,000 white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to black Zimbabweans. Evictions of the last remaining white farmers continue despite official reports that much of the seized farmland that was once among the most productive has been vandalized and left derelict.[From internet] Best wishes, Suman Mukherjee India.