Zimbabwean inflation - which for months has qualified as hyperinflation - surged on a 12-month basis to more than 66,000%, the Central Statistical Office said Thursday.

Inflation for the year through December was 66,212%, the statistical office said, well up from 26,740% in November, led by food and beverages, up 79,412%.

Although some private sector economists have estimated inflation at over 100,000%, a survey of Zimbabwean economists found an average estimate of some 80,000%.

Economist Godfrey Kanyenze, director of the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe, told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA’s Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that continued central bank money printing is fueling inflation.

Economist Tony Hawkins of the University of Zimbabwe said the government’s attempt to dictate a freeze on the prices of goods and services in late 2007 backfired.

More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...