Prices in Zimbabwe have started to fall after years of devastating inflation that left the national currency nearly worthless — a rare piece of good news for an economy that remains a shambles.

Prices of goods bought in U.S. dollars — Zimbabwe’s new official currency — declined by 3 percent since January, the state statistical office said Tuesday.

The figures were announced as Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai returned home after a week in neighboring South Africa, where he spent time with his children following his wife’s death in a road crash. He said he was ready to get back to work.

Until the Zimbabwe dollar became virtually obsolete in recent weeks, Zimbabwe’s last official inflation rate in the local currency was given as 231 million percent in August, by far the highest in the world.

Moffat Nyoni, head of the Central Statistical Office, said items priced at an average of $100 (euro73) in January cost $97 (euro71) this month.

No official annual U.S. dollar inflation figure was calculated, Nyoni told reporters. And the situation is complex, because dollars are not readily available. But some Zimbabweans get money from relatives or friends working abroad, and the government recently began paying civil servants in dollar vouchers.