Wednesday - March 05, 2008

I’ll keep my dollars, thanks

It’s got to really suck when you spend money by the kilogram instead of by the increment. Inflation in Robert Mugabe’s Paradise has caused the local scrip to fall from One Million to the dollar back in October to Twenty Five Million to the dollar today. Even at the old, “good” rate of 1,000,000:1 the ink on the banknotes was worth more than the money itself. Today’s rate makes this the most worthless currency on earth. Honestly, they would be far better off using toilet paper as money: a single sheet of Charmin is worth Z$ 106,770.80. If it takes just one tenth of a drop of ink to make one of their bills, and the ink sells for $100 per 55 gallon drum, then the ink is 5 times more valuable than the Z$1 money printed with it.

This can’t go on. It’s not like the cost of living there is even close to high. Poor folk can get by on less than 25¢ a day. Setting aside the right or wrong of whatever reasons Mugabe had, to do what he did to the country, the place is this close to bottoming out. Expect a revolution pretty soon. Or mass starvation. Or both.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) —It’s easy being a multmillionaire in Zimbabwe these days, at least if you’re counting in local dollars.  Money traders in the economically depressed African country say the Zimbabwe currency has tumbled to a record low of 25 million for a single U.S. dollar.  With Zimbabwe dollars mostly available in bundles of 100,000 and 200,000 notes, one $100 note bought nearly 20 kilograms (40 pounds) of local notes at the new market rate Wednesday.  Currency dealers said uncertainties ahead of elections scheduled March 29 and the world’s highest inflation of 100,500 percent led holders of hard currency to hang on to their money at the same time as the state central bank pumped more local cash into the market for election costs.

With industry and production collapsing, Zimbabweans have become heavily dependent on imports of the corn meal staple and basic goods. Until last year, the former regional breadbasket was self sufficient in canned and processed foods, household goods, soap, toothpaste, toiletries and other items now imported from neighbors Malawi, South Africa and Zambia and from as far afield as Egypt, Germany, Iran and Malaysia.  According to latest official poverty line data, an average family of five needs a monthly income $35 to survive while remaining living in poverty.  But most general hands and other lower paid workers earn less than the equivalent of $10 a month in an economy also suffering record formal sector unemployment of 80 percent.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/03/05/zimbabwe.money.ap/index.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article3490880.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093

Posted by Drew458     on 03/05/2008 at 04:35 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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