Consumer prices in Zimbabwe fell by 4.8 percent January, compared with the same month last year, but the downward trend was slower than in December, the government said on Thursday.

Zimbabwe's economy was ravaged by hyperinflation estimated in multiples of billions in 2008.

The government decided in January 2009 to abandon the essentially worthless local currency, allowing trade in US dollars or other foreign currencies.

That quickly stabilised the economy, ending a freefall that had spanned nearly a decade, allowing some businesses to begin piecing together their shattered operations.

Using stable currencies restored competition to the market, pushing prices downward, with the annual deflation at 7.7 percent in December 2009, according to the Central Statistical Office.

The monthly inflation rate was at 0.7 percent in January, up from 0.5 percent in December, driven mainly by food prices.

Under the unity government of long-ruling President Robert Mugabe and his erstwhile rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's economy grew by 4.7 percent last year -- the first growth in 12 years.

By AFP