Annual inflation in Zimbabwe topped 231 million percent in July, jumping 219.8 million percentage points on the June figure, a government statistics agency said Thursday. The Central Statistical Office blamed rising food prices for the sharp increase in the annual inflation rate, the highest on record in the country and the the highest inflation rate in the world. The agency said month-on-month inflation rose from 839.3 percent in June to 2,600.2 percent in July, a 1,760.9 percentage point jump. Annual inflation in June was pegged at 11.2 million percent. The government has tried a series of measures, including price controls, to stem inflation but all efforts so far have failed. Economists mainly blame excessive government spending, especially in the run-up to the March and June general elections, for the sharp rise in inflation.
