By Chantelle Muzanenhamo
Zimbabwe’s inflation rate has dropped sharply from a high of 82.7% in September to just 19% in November 2025, marking one of the fastest disinflation periods in the country’s history.
The update was announced on 1 December 2025 by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which said the local currency, the ZiG, is now stabilising at levels not seen in decades.
Presenting the committee’s resolutions, RBZ Governor Dr. John Mushayavanhu said the sharp decline in inflation was driven by sustained tight monetary policy.
“The MPC welcomed the positive developments on the inflation front, which saw the dissipation of base effects and the deceleration of ZiG annual inflation from 82.7% in September to 32.7% in October and further to 19.0% in November 2025,” the statement said.
The latest figures signal a potential turning point in Zimbabwe’s long-running inflation crisis.
For the first time in more than twenty years, authorities are forecasting that annual inflation will fall into single-digit territory in early 2026.
The MPC said annual inflation is now projected to close 2025 between 15% and 17%, a sharp improvement from earlier estimates of between 20% and 30%.
“For the first time in more than 20 years, local currency annual inflation is expected to reach single-digit levels in the first quarter of 2026,” the committee said.
Officials attributed the progress to the tight monetary policy stance that has been in place since September 2024.
The committee also highlighted strong foreign currency inflows as a major pillar of the improving outlook. Total inflows for the first ten months of 2025 exceeded US$13 billion, representing a more than 21% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
These inflows have boosted reserves backing the ZiG to about US$1 billion, strengthening the local currency and improving the country’s capacity to meet import and foreign payment obligations.
“The increase in foreign currency inflows ensured that the foreign exchange market fully met all bona-fide import and foreign payment requirements,” the MPC said.
Despite the gains, the MPC has opted to maintain its tight monetary policy stance.
Since September 2024, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has used a tight monetary policy by keeping interest rates high at 35%, strictly controlling the supply of money, discouraging speculative borrowing, and stabilising the foreign currency market through formal trading and strong foreign inflows.
By maintaining positive real interest rates, limiting government and bank credit creation, and backing the ZiG with growing reserves, the central bank reduced excess money in circulation, strengthened the local currency, slowed demand, and successfully drove inflation sharply lower.