Zimbabwe Sept consumer prices down 0.5 pct m/m

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's consumer prices fell 0.5 percent month-on-month in September, Central Statistical Office data showed on Friday, mainly pulled down by a decline in food prices.

The IMF estimates Zimbabwe's inflation peaked at 500 billion percent in December, before a unity government set up by bitter rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in February adopted the use of multiple foreign currencies.

The move has helped eliminate shortages of basic goods and stabilised prices.

The CSO -- which resumed calculating inflation data in U.S. dollar terms in December after use of the local currency was abandoned due to hyperinflation -- has not been issuing annual figures.

Data from the agency showed monthly inflation was at -0.5 percent in September, compared to 0.4 percent in August.

Zimbabwe still suffers from low productivity levels due to lack of capital to restart production in key sectors of the economy.

The government has warned that depressed manufacturing output, coupled with high utility and municipal charges, will continue to exert inflationary pressures.