Zimbabwe - Inflation 1,042.9% in April

Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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1,413
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Brisbane, Australia
the country is spiralling out of control, something needs to be done by the outside world. reminds me of what i learn tin history during my GCSE days about the state of germany after the great war.

some examples in Zim:

"average goods are about 11 times as expensive in April 2006 as they were 12 months earlier" (BBC)

"President Robert Mugabe blames domestic and foreign enemies for the problems" (BBC)

"A loaf of bread now costs between Z$80,000 - Z$110,000 (79 US cents - $1.08)" (BBC)

"A carton of orange juice costs about Z$500,000 and a kilo of beef up to Z$1m" (BBC)

"In January, the government introduced a Z$50,000 "bearer cheque" worth 49 US cents, to become the highest value currency note.It is not enough to buy a copy of the daily Herald newspaper at Z$80,000. " (BBC)

"Mr Mugabe is unwilling to accept outside help or interference" (BBC)

"Investors delight! 8 acre estate, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and laundry, bar and a cottage," one advertisement says. The asking price is 80 billion Zimbabwe dollars" (IHT)

"Joseph Mukonori, 41, who lives in Highfield, said he earned a monthly income of 8 million dollars" (IHT)

i`m gratefull to be living in a stable politcal environment, i`m amazed by friends and relatives who still manage to live out there, and with all the problems there are many opportunists who are making an absolute killing selling petrol on the black market among other things.

sources:
BBC NEWS (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4765187.stm)
International Herald tribune (http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/15/business/zecon.php)
 
Permabanned
Joined
25 Feb 2006
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788
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UK
And what do you propose "we" do?

Interventionism is wrong. If they want cheaper items then they should focus on removing Mugabe from power instead of riding his "white devil" bandwagon. There wasn't much public outcry when they were violently turfing generations of settlers off their land in the 90's.

There should be another democratic revolution there as it's a one party state (Zanu PF is the only realistic party), but that's in the hands of Zimbabwe, not the rest of the world.
 

Aod

Aod

Soldato
Joined
7 Oct 2004
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8,662
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London
being from Zimbabwe (seriously) i know what its like there quite well

its a lovely place.

in the center of harare, there is what looks to be a massive park, guarded by walls, guards with assault rifle and electric fences. its Actually Bob's mansion + Estate. its called Mugabeland. its got (well, had) and approximate land value of a few million pounds. (in 1999 at least) anyway, he bought it using money directly from the treasury.

anyway, i have one of these "bearers cheques". its printed on paper that i wouldn't even feed my printer, and only on one side.

they've stopped printing low value (<$10,000) notes on two sides, because the paper and ink combined would total more than the value of the note.

a funny story, someone was carrying a wheelbarrow piled full of notes (tied together with elastic bands)

Anyway, he was robbed, and instead of taking the money, they took the wheelbarrow, which was worth about 5-6x as much as the money.

it really is a shame that the place is so *fruitcaged* i often miss it.

i'll dig around for piccies of the place i used to live in.
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2004
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5,382
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Belfast/Edinburgh
When I was in Zimbabwe in about 2003/4 I got about Zim$80,000 for the marketplaces, this done me for quite a while and got me a lot of stuff.

Now $80,000 wouldn't get me anything in the marketplaces. I think it was about US$50.

Also had a good time trading socks and toothpaste. :p
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Oct 2004
Posts
10,772
Location
Cambs/Herts
It's a mess. I know a family that used to live in Zimbabwe as farmers and land owners. They made a good living, and the country used to export more food than it imported. Now it's the other way around:(.
 
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