Posted on 06/06/2006 5:36:09 PM PDT by blam
The $100,000 note that won't buy a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe
By Peta Thornycroft in Harare
(Filed: 07/06/2006)
The 100,000 Zimbabwean dollar note which went into circulation this week was officially worth just over 50p. Yesterday on Zimbabwe's burgeoning black markets it was valued at about 16p.
In a country stricken by 1,000 per cent inflation, the world's worst, the new note will not even buy a loaf of bread.
Just four months ago, a loaf of bread cost $45,000
Hours after the national mint started printing the notes, the price of bread shot up by more 40 per cent to $130,000, the third such increase this year.
"This new money makes life better as long as we get a $200,000 note in a few weeks to replace this one," said Shadreck Mbima, a cashier at a supermarket in central Harare.
Mr Mbima said queues regularly formed at his checkout as staff struggled to count stacks of currency.
At a supermarket in Harare's northern suburbs, Deborah Wilson, a mother of four, bought two large soft drinks, two litres of milk, a dozen imported small yoghurts, a packet of cream, some garlic and a few packets of biscuits. Her bill, she said, would be $5 million.
Bakers blamed the rocketing bread price on wheat shortages and soaring costs of ingredients and petrol.
The new notes are strictly speaking not currency but "bearer cheques" signed by Gideon Gono, the governor of the central bank. They carry an expiry date of Dec 31, 2006.
Beside the watermark is an image of Victoria Falls. One Zimbabwean said that, turned upside-down, the picture resembled a bush fire, which he compared to the economic policies of the president, Robert Mugabe.
Observers say that Mr Mugabe, 82, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, is responsible for his country's economic meltdown. Unemployment stands at 70 per cent and tens of thousands of Zimbabweans attempt to flee across the South African border every month.
Yesterday the International Crisis Group, a think-tank based in Brussels, warned that political tensions had left Mr Mugabe's government "increasingly desperate and dangerous".
Peter Kagwanja, the group's southern Africa director, advocated continued international pressure on the regime in the form of "targeted sanctions directed at the Zanu-PF leaders who are driving Zimbabwe to ruin".
Despite the hardship, there is no shortage of food in Zimbabwe following April's successful maize harvest but even the basic diet is beyond the pocket of most people.
"I can only afford this," said a shrivelled man holding a small pack of beef fat. "This will be all I eat today as there is no food at home."
Ping.
Ahhhh, Socialism...
Go go hyperinflation.
Clearly the answers are two fold --
1. Prints BIGGER bills
2. Confiscate more white owned farms for socialist redistribution.
After all, we all know the only reason socialism or communism fails is because it's never been REALLY tried hard enough.
/sarcasm
Well, on the bright side Zimbabwe, at least you're not under the heel of those evil white men anymore.
Or they didn't have the right people running it! /sarcasm
Aren't they expected to hit a 1000% inflation rate? A tad dysfunctional, if you ask me.
They put the yeast in the wrong dough.
The ink can give you a nasty rash.
$130,000 for a single loaf of bread, and 1000% inflation. A year from now, how much? $1,300,000? I wonder how long it will take the economy to completely collapse.
If I were white and living in Zim, I'd get out before Mugabe builds a coliseum to entertain the jobless and hungry masses.
And yet, a silver US dime will purchase the same loaf of bread today that it would have a few years ago.
Ahhhhh, the power of honest money.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
