Harare, Mar 4 (IANS): Zimbabwe's monthly inflation rate receded into negative territory in February to -1.6 per cent, the first time in as many years following the implementation of a tight monetary and fiscal stance by the authorities, according to data released by the national statistics agency.

"The month-on-month inflation rate in February 2023 was -1.6 per cent shedding 2.3 percentage points on the January rate of 0.7 per cent," the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) said on Friday.

Annual inflation for February also declined to 92.3 per cent from 101.5 per cent the previous month, the ZIMSTAT added.

The February inflation data marks the first time that Zimbabwe is now computing the inflation rate using a weighted average based on the use of Zimbabwean dollars and US dollars after Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube on Friday gazetted a statutory instrument enforcing the new measure, Xinhua news agency reported.

The new method of measuring inflation will be such that the rate of inflation will reflect the general increase in price levels of goods and services measured as a weighted average based on the use of Zimbabwean dollars and US dollars over a given period of time, Ncube said.

Zimbabwe's economy has a dual currency structure composed of the Zimbabwean dollar and the US dollar, with the use of the US dollar currently dominant and constituting about 70 per cent of domestic transactions.

Zimbabwe's monthly and annual inflation has progressively declined from peak levels of 30.7 per cent in June and 285 per cent in August last year, respectively, following a tight monetary and fiscal policy stance by the government.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the country's central bank, said last month that annual inflation is expected to decline progressively to between 10-30 per cent by year-end.