Zimbabwe interest rate at all time high as Russia-Ukraine war forces policy measures

Zimbabwe’s central bank says it has raised its main policy rate from 60 percent to a record 80 percent in an attempt to contain inflation

The interest rate is currently the highest in the world and at an all-time record for the southern African country, according to the financial agency Bloomberg.

The country’s runaway inflation fueled by the war in Ukraine and soaring commodity prices reached 72.7% in March, up from 66.11% a month earlier.

In a statement on Monday, the southern African nation’s central bank said rising oil, gas and fertilizer prices were “inevitably having a negative impact on production costs” and “destabilizing the foreign exchange market”.

Zimbabwe’s economy has been in deep crisis for more than 20 years, with international donors withdrawing because of unsustainable debt.

The rise in the price of basic commodities has recently been aggravated by the conflict in Ukraine, while Russia is the country’s main supplier of wheat.