Financial Crisis Zimbabwe
If you think that the current economic crisis is something that has never
happened in history before, you may be wrong! After the collapse of the
agriculture sector in Zimbabwe in 2000, the inflation in that country
skyrocketed to 231 million percent a year! Just think about it - 231 000 000%!
Unemployment went up to 80% and a third of country's population left it.
Let`s now have a look at the
photos that you may not be able to see anywhere else in the world.
Here is a boy getting change in
200 000 dollar notes!
One 200 000 dollar note equals
less than $0.10 cents.
December 22nd, a new note of 500
000 dollars introduced to the market!
Next - 750 000 dollars.
January - new note of 10 million
dollars.
This US $10 dollar note is 10
times worth more than the 10 million dollars Zimbabwe note.
A case worth 65 billion Zimbabwe
dollars which equals to $2000 US dollars.
This guy is going to a
supermarket. The exchange rate is 25 million Zimbabwe dollars for 1 US dollar.
This mountain of cash is worth
$100.
50 Million note is then
introduced!
Next is 250 million dollars note!
Sorry, how much is this t-shirt?
- It`s cheap, only about 3
billion dollars!
May - a note of 500 million
dollars is introduced!
June - note worth 25 and 50
billion are printed.
And finally - 100 billion dollars
note!
What can you buy for it? Well,
these 3 eggs for example.
Thats how people went to
restaurants!
And the bills:
In August, the government
devalued Zimbabwe dollar by removing 10 zeros from notes.
However, inflation kept going up
and in September for this amount of cash you could only buy 4 tomatoes.
And for this - some bread.
And then it started again: 20 000
dollars note in September.
50 000 a couple of weeks ago!
They`ve got a pretty good chance
of hitting billion dollar notes again by the end of this year!
And you say you have a Financial Crisis?
Speaking of a financial crisis:
Zimbabwe inflation hits 231,000,000% per year as coalition talks stumble
Even with the credit crunch striking all
corners of the globe, few countries are in as dire financial trouble as
Zimbabwe.
The country's annual inflation hit a
record 231 million per cent and prospects for rescuing the ruined economy dimmed
yesterday after the opposition said no progress had been made on forming a
power-sharing cabinet.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said
he had made compromises on many issues but both sides remained divided on
sharing ministries. He was nonetheless still hopeful of eventual agreement.
Up we go: A man holds
a wad of Zimbabwe dollar notes in Harare, Zimbabwe yesterday as inflation soared
to a new record high of 231million%
'We are part of this deal and very
confident about this deal. There is nothing wrong with the deal, but in the
process of implementing the deal we have reached an impasse, not on the
fundamental points of the deal,' he told a news conference.
'It's ridiculous to say the deal has
broken down because of this failure to agree on posts. Having a good agreement
with a bad guy (Mugabe) is always something else.'
Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for
Democratic Change, spoke hours after record inflation figures were issued. The
yearly inflation figure raced to 231 million percent in July from 11.2 million
percent in June.
A loaf of bread which cost 500 Zimbabwean
dollars when the central bank redenominated the Zimbabwe dollar on August 1, now
goes for at least Z$7,000.
Hyperinflation:
Zimbabweans shop in a supermaket in Harare, Zimbabwe, where prices are marked in
U.S.dollars
Many Zimbabweans have resorted to
bartering goods and rely on help from relatives abroad, mostly in South Africa,
for supplies of scant basic foodstuffs like maize, sugar and cooking oil.
World Food Program spokesman Mustapha
Darboe said: 'Millions of Zimbabweans have already run out of food or are
surviving on just one meal a day and the crisis is going to get much worse in
the coming months.'
Central Statistical Office data showed
that on a monthly basis, prices in July shot up by 2,600 per cent, largely
driven by high prices of bread and cereals.
An outline agreement signed on September
15 has stalled over the most important cabinet posts, angering Zimbabweans who
have had to endure the world's fastest price rises, shortages of food, foreign
currency and crumbling infrastructure.
Both sides accuse each other of
jeopardising the process.
Deadlock: Former
South African president Thabo Mbeki, top left, has been called in again to help
mediate between Robert Mugabe, top right, and Morgan Tsvangirai, below
Talks: Opposition leader and prime
minister designate Morgan Tsvangirai
'What is baffling is that the political
players seem to take a cavalier attitude over the political crisis whose
resolution is tied to the economic turnaround,' said Eldred Masunungure, a
political science lecturer at University of Zimbabwe.
'The consequences of such a rate of
inflation is absolute desperation, despair and poverty. The politicians don't
seem to realise that what they do or don't do has an effect on the economy.'
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki
will travel to Zimbabwe to continue his mediation, said Tsvangirai.
Questions were raised over Mbeki's ability
to broker a cabinet deal after South Africa's ruling ANC ousted him.
Tsvangirai said his MDC party had also
contacted the African Union (AU) and regional grouping SADC over the stalemate
and expressed confidence they will seek a speedy resolution.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a
fierce Mugabe critic, accused the Zimbabwean leader of dragging the continent's
name through the mud and expressed little faith in African mediation.
'We should not be surprised at the AU's
failure to stand up for democracy. Many of our national leaders have skeletons
rattling loudly in their cupboards,' he said in a speech in Lagos.
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