THE National Handling Services Zimbabwe (NHS) says the current hyperinflationary environment has destabilised its procurement processes.
This comes as the country has entered into another hyperinflationary cycle after prices increased by over 50 percent in June, with the nation having already experienced two other episodes of hyperinflation in the last 15 years.
Hyperinflation refers to price increases at rates exceeding 50 percent each month over time.
“The hyperinflationary environment, which has increased exponentially over the last two months, has severely depreciated the company’s reserves and destabilised procurement processes,” chairman of NHS, Frank Mukarakate, said at the company’s annual general meeting.
Mukarakate however, noted that the company has demonstrated agility to accommodate the impact of the trading environment.
“We have ensured that the board is supportive of key strategies to maintain going concern of the profitability of the company,” he added.
ZimStat recently revealed that the country’s month-on-month inflation was 74,5 percent in June, after gaining 58,8 percentage points on May’s rate while annual inflation hit three digits to 175,8 percent from 86,5 percent recorded in the previous month.
According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe monetary policy statement, monthly blended inflation is expected to average below 1,5 percent this year while annual blended inflation is expected to decline to 10 percent and 30 percent by year-end.
Meanwhile, during the year 2022, NHS handled a total of 12 559 flights for both domestic and international routes, a 59 percent increase from the 7 888 flights handled in 2021.
The firm said the flights were five percent below the pre-Covid-19 thresholds of 13 262 flights per annum.
A total of 1,3 million passengers were handled last year compared to 379 657 handled in the comparable year due to increased frequencies during the year under review.
Marawanyika said Fastjet and Airlink recorded the highest number of frequencies last year.
Fastjet frequencies increased 231 percent to 4 641 in 2022 from the 1 403 recorded in the prior year while Airlink recorded 2 042 frequencies from the 601 recorded in 2021.
“Overall, most airlines improved their flight frequencies in 2022 compared to 2021. The national borders were opened to international travellers during the last half of 2021 and this contributed to the improvement in flights handled during the period under review,” Marawanyika said.
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