The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 32, July 24, 2005, Article 19

ZIMBABWE INFLATION

According to a July 20 report in The Times of London,
inflation in Zimbabwe has gotten to the point where
"a million dollars won't fill up your car ... and a box of
matches cost a thousand."

"Inflation hit 164 per cent last month. Economists predict
that it will double in five months, and again three months after
that. This time last year, £1 fetched Zim$8,500 on the black
market, increasingly the only real exchange. Yesterday it
fetched Zim$54,000."

"The $Zim20,000 bill is the currency#39;s highest denomination
and also its most common unit. It is not a banknote, however.
It is a bearer cheque, and most carry a 2004 expiry date.

People carry a fat wad of 50 bills called a “bar” after the days
a bar of gold was worth Zim$1 million — just in case they find
a petrol station with fuel and a short queue.

Nearly always, however, the lines outside service stations are
“hope queues” where drivers leave their cars to gather dust."

"On those rare occasions when I can fill up my car, it costs me
Zim$1.5 million.

On Saturday riot police arrived at my local supermarket to beat
back a queue of about 700 people waiting to buy sugar, which
had just been delivered. Last week I had struggled through a
crowd for a loaf of bread, only to have someone steal it out of
my basket."

To read the full story, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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