Zimbabwe's annual inflation for August has shot up to a new record level of 1,204.6 percent, gaining 211 percent on the July rate of 999.3 percent, according to the Central Statistical Office on Friday.

The office said that the monthly inflation rate for August had also risen from 25.1 percent in July to 29.2 percent.

The office's acting director Moffat Nyoni could not be drawn to mention some of the major factors pushing up inflation, only saying the review of the exchange rate two months ago could have had an impact.

He said the increase in annual inflation meant that goods and services were 13 times as expensive in August 2006 as they had been 12 months before.

Nyoni said year on year food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation stood at 1,116.6 percent while non-food inflation stood at 1,249.9 percent.

Month on month food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation stood at 24.8 percent in August 2006, down 2.6 percent from July figure of 27.4 percent while the non-food inflation stood at 31.4 percent.

Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate has been fluctuating in the past few months with no certain trend being set. Inflation reached 1,193.5 percent in May this year before it started decelerating to 1,184.6 percent in June and 993.6 percent in July.

Meanwhile, the poverty datum line has increased to 100,306 Zimbabwe dollars (400 U.S. dollars) for a family of five persons in August, up 18.11 percent from the July figure of 84,927 Zimbabwe dollars (340 U.S. dollars). Inflation has in the past six years been declared the country's number one enemy as it has impacted all sectors of the economy.

Source: Xinhua