The rebound to single digits is the first time in over a year for Africa’s largest copper producer. Industry analysts had anticipated a further decline in Zambia’s inflation but attaining single digits by the fall of 2009 was unexpected. Analysts had banked their projections on unstable micro and macro fundamentals.

According CSO, annual inflation recoiled back into single digits as result of various factors. It said inflation has declined to 9.9% year-on-year in December from 11.5% in November, the first time it has been below 10 percent since March 2008.

"The decline of 1.6 percentage points in annual inflation rate in December 2009 was as a result of the decrease in some food prices," said CSO in its monthly bulletin issued in Lusaka on New Year’s Eve.

Zambia has also recorded a trade surplus of 322.9 billion kwacha in November after a surplus of 299.5 billion kwacha in October.

The country’s major export products in November were from intermediate goods, mainly copper products.

Last November, central bank Governor, Caleb Fundanga, said the country had revised its end-December 2009 annual inflation forecast to 10 percent from the previous figure of 12 percent due mainly to falling food prices.