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Some are resorting to the use of the Rand or the US dollar:
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=1404
Vendors illegally accept forexQuote:
The South African Rand and the US dollar are now the currencies of choice.
Quote:
A visit by a Zimbabwe Guardian reporter revealed that traders have stopped taking the Zimbabwean dollar for payment of goods and services, opting for the South African Rand or US dollar instead.
I wonder how it will all end ? probably with Mugabe burnt on a stick
we can only hope,
Amid echoes of the action taken by Germany to halt the hyper-inflation of the 1920s, people in Zimbabwe will tomorrow start to use a new currency introduced by the central bank to halt the African country's runaway increase in the cost of living.
Gideon Gono, the central bank governor with the unenviable record of presiding over the world's highest inflation rate, said he was no longer prepared to continue printing notes of ever higher denominations. "Ten billion dollars today, will as from August 1 be revalued to one zimdollar dollar," Gideon Gono said earlier this week."
The move follows an increase in Zimbabwean inflation to 2.2m%, with a loaf of bread costing 200bn dollars in Harare this week, and represents the government's attempt to get to grips with the economic crisis in what was once one of sub-Saharan Africa's richest countries.
Notes of higher and higher denominations have been put into circulation since the start of the year and the new $100bn bank note came into circulation in Zimbabwe only 10 days ago.
Gono has now decided, however, that the only way to restore confidence in the currency is to follow the example of the president of the Reichsbank, Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht, who helped bring an end to Germany's financial crisis by striking nine zeros from the currency and turning 10bn old marks into one new Rentenmark. Germany's inflationary problem in 1923 was even worse than Zimbabwe's today, with workers being paid three times a day and families using worthless bank notes to burn furnaces because it was cheaper than buying firewood.
Prices were rising so rapidly in the second half of 1923 that it was almost impossible to keep track of inflation, but one estimate puts it as high as 854,000,000,000%.
Gono also announced this week measures to boost Zimbabwe's agricultural sector, since the rapid decline in farm production has been an important reason for the country's descent into economic chaos. Germany's recovery after the 1923 hyper-inflation was based on the success of the central bank in restoring confidence in the country's economy, then as now the most powerful in Europe.
Zimbabwe issues new currency to tackle inflation | Business | guardian.co.uk
How will we know when he's done?:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly
WTF has a new currency got to due with runaway inflation.:confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by bkkandrew
^ Well, it saves paper and printing costs, but makes no difference to the underlying syndrome.
Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia etc, now Zim. It has never worked.
:) ZIMBABWE'S President, Robert Mugabe, has been forced to return home following intense political pressure from the Chinese Communist Party not to attend Friday night's opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.
The Herald understands high-powered lobbying from political leaders who will be attending the ceremony prompted the highest levels of the Chinese Government to convince him not to attend. It is understood he had arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday but could get no further.
The two countries have a close relationship and it took intense persuasion to convince Mr Mugabe to return to Zimbabwe and not cause embarrassment to the host country.
Latest News - News - Olympics - watoday.com.au
I'm sure him and Grace had a nice shopping spree in HK to console themselves. :rolleyes:
Former US President Jimmy Carter says the crisis in Zimbabwe appears "much worse than anything we ever imagined" after the government there blocked his weekend humanitarian visit.
Carter, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and child advocate Graca Machel called for southern African leaders to halt the "deep suffering" in Zimbabwe, where the UN says more than five million people face imminent starvation.
The president of neighbouring South Africa, meanwhile, warned Zimbabwe "may implode and collapse", as he announced a new round of talks to try to resolve the political impasse.
His comments, some of the strongest yet by South Africa, come as a cholera epidemic has killed hundreds of Zimbabweans and spilled across the border into South Africa. Officials say Zimbabwe's political and economic collapse caused the outbreak.
Machel said other southern African nations should follow the example of South Africa, which last week announced it was withholding 30 million rand ($A5.2 million) in agricultural aid to Zimbabwe until the government and opposition form a unity government.
Zimbabwe has been in political deadlock since opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the most votes in the March presidential election but not enough to avoid a runoff. President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since independence in 1980, claimed victory in the June runoff after Tsvangirai dropped out over violence aimed at his supporters.
The two agreed in September to share power, but the talks have stalled over the allocation of cabinet posts, with the opposition accusing Mugabe of trying to hold onto key positions.
Carter said the stories they heard about the collapse of education, health and agriculture "are all indications that the crisis in Zimbabwe is much worse than anything we ever imagined".
He said "the leadership in Harare don't want to admit there is a crisis".
Adding to the implied criticism of regional leaders, Carter said, "I get the feeling that even the leaders of SADC (the Southern African Development Community) do not know what is going on" in Zimbabwe.
Situation in Zimbabwe dire, warns Carter - Breaking News - World - Breaking News
^ there is only one outcome in this dramatic situation, the removal of Mugabe
Since he doesn't want to cooperate and won't leave, the country will need to collapse completely before the crowd gets to him
Brilliant evaluation Butterfly, How would suggest the removal be effected ?
^ once he runs out of money and can't pay the police and the army, they will gladly turn on him :)
there is no other solution, the coward diplomacy of the African nations doesn't result into anything, and Mugabe will keep fighting as long as he can afford it, buying more time for him will only delay the inevitable
let the country collapse, as it will also serve as an example for the other leaders in the region,
^ the only problem with that "solution" is that Mugabe is not afraid to let millions of his "countrymen" starve to death in the process.
The pile-up continues.
Pissed off soldiers who havent't been paid have been rioting, and looting.
16 Zimbabwe soldiers held over looting, violence
Six of the soldiers were part of a group of 15 that beat up members of the public, looted shops and assaulted riot police last week, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said, The Herald reported.
The other 10 were detained over the looting of shops on Monday in Harare, he added.
AFP: 16 Zimbabwe soldiers held over looting, violence
The cholera outbreak is now an epidemic, doctors have admitted the hospitals are dysfunctional and have asked for foreign aid.
Zimbabwe declares national health emergency
Zimbabwe declared a national emergency over a cholera epidemic and the collapse of its health care system, and state media reported Thursday the government is seeking more international help to pay for food and drugs to combat the crisis.The failure of the southern African nation's health care system is one of the most devastating effects of the country's overall economic collapse.
Facing the highest inflation in the world, Zimbabweans are struggling just to eat and find clean drinking water. The United Nations says the number of suspected cholera cases in Zimbabwe since August has climbed above 12,600, with 570 deaths, because of a lack of water treatment and broken sewage pipes.
The Associated Press: Zimbabwe declares national health emergency
Zimbabwe is also asking for foreign money to buy food.
Zimbabwe Seeks $450 Million Aid to Address Crisis
Zimbabwe appealed for $450 million worth of aid to deal with a humanitarian crisis caused by food shortages, as the government of neighboring South Africa said it will discuss ways to help.Zimbabwe needs corn and wheat supplies to stave off hunger, Christian Katsande, permanent secretary in the Trade Ministry, said in an interview today by phone from Harare, the capital. About 5.1 million Zimbabweans, almost half the population, will require emergency rations by early next year, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.
“The humanitarian crisis is very serious and we have to mobilize corn and wheat supplies for next year, both in the form of food and farming inputs,” Katsande said. “We are making an international appeal.”
Bloomberg.com: Africa
East Zimbabwe has got diamond fever, and predictably Mugabe and his fellow government thugs are looting all they can:-
Zimbabwe's deadly diamond fever
Sleepy towns such as Mutare have blinked awake to find their quiet streets buzzing with opportunists and black marketeers. Every day, illicit miners show up at the hospital with gaping bullet wounds and flimsy excuses for how they got them. Characters straight out of "Blood Diamond" cruise like sharks.
But the biggest sharks are nowhere to be seen: Officials of President Robert Mugabe's regime are looting the diamonds, industry sources and members of Zimbabwe's security services say.
Not only are they personally enriching themselves with one of the few natural resources still left in this ruined country, party fat cats may be finding life support in the diamond riches, Western diplomats and analysts fear, and gaining one more motive to cling to power.
"I think the political implications are very interesting," said a diplomat based in Harare, the capital. "Right now, the government's getting very little. If it can regularize this in some way, it could really prop things up for a while. It could give them some time to pursue their interests and just keep going."
Regime cracks down
Diplomats, industry sources and some nongovernmental agencies believe the Marange field here could be one of the most significant diamond discoveries in decades.
Mugabe's regime is certainly behaving as if it is. In mid-November, the government sent in the military to crack down on unsanctioned miners. Soldiers even fired on miners from helicopters, local sources say. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says nearly 140 people have been killed.
One insider close to the ruling party said the scope of the crackdown was a measure of how significant the diamonds were to the regime.
"I don't think they would expend such resources if there was not something significant there," he says.
A prison official in Mutare said top figures in the ruling ZANU-PF party and security officials are running the illegal diamond trade here.
"A lot of leaders of the political regime are involved in trading. They have their own diggers and traders. But it's all to their personal account. They've all got a vested interest in chaos."
Zimbabwe's deadly diamond fever - Los Angeles Times
The worlds highest inflation, starvation, armed forces looting, cholera and blood diamonds. Damn good movie. :rolleyes:
What to expect next- Armed forces mutiny, Civil war?
a few more months and Mugabe will be hanged in the streets, the only honorable exit for him
cracks already in the army, and soon the police, Mugabe is suicidal and will take his country with him
Its all the UK's fault: :mid:
UK caused cholera, says Zimbabwe
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2008/12/489.jpg Robert Mugabe has said the West was plotting to use cholera to invade
The cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe which has left hundreds dead was caused by the UK, an ally of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has said.
Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu described the outbreak as a "genocidal onslaught on the people of Zimbabwe by the British".
On Thursday, Mr Mugabe said the spread of cholera had been halted.
But aid workers warned that the situation was worsening and the outbreak could last for months.
In his comments to media in Harare, Mr Ndlovu likened the appearance of cholera in Zimbabwe to a "serious biological chemical weapon" used by the British.
The Zimbabwean minister for information blames Britain for the cholera outbreak
He described it as "a calculated, racist, terrorist attack on Zimbabwe".
Mr Mugabe has already accused Western powers of plotting to use cholera as an excuse to invade and overthrow him.
BBC NEWS | Africa | UK caused cholera, says Zimbabwe
Some may think this is a hoax post, but some things you couldn't make up!
I saw him on the news and am convinced he is on something. Slumped at the podium, holding his head, looked like he just smoked a fat one. I dunno, maybe the crazy Farangs are just doing his head in.
should be fun to see his head on a pick next time on TV,
President Robert Mugabe declared Friday that "Zimbabwe is mine" and vowed never to surrender to calls to step down, as his political rival threatened to quit stalled unity government talks.
Addressing his ZANU-PF party's annual conference amid a ruinous political crisis and a deadly cholera epidemic , Mugabe returned to the kind of defiance he has often shown in the face of mounting criticism.
"I will never, never, never, never surrender. Zimbabwe is mine, I am a Zimbabwean. Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe never for the British, Britain for the British," Mugabe told his party's annual conference.
The veteran leader in the former British colony said he would remain until "his people decided to change him."
While the comments struck a familiar tone for the 84-year-old leader -- he said earlier this year that only God could remove him from office -- he now faces increasingly grim circumstances in his crippled country.
Full Article:- 'Zimbabwe is mine' says Mugabe - Breaking News - World - Breaking News
Mugabe is obviously deranged. The full article goes on to tell some other mugabe gems, such as how Zim is facing war with Britain, The USA is trying to topple him, blah, blah..
Ouch. Calling this a mess is an understatement.
Link: Zimbabwe introduces $50 billion note - CNN.comQuote:
HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Zimbabwe's central bank will introduce a $50 billion note -- enough to buy just two loaves of bread -- as a way of fighting cash shortages amid spiraling inflation.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/01/549.jpgZimbabwe's dollar is virtually worthless, with foreign currency now being used to purchase basic items.
The country's acting finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa, made the announcement in a government gazette released Saturday.
Although Chinamasa did not give the date on which the $50 billion and new $20 billion notes would come into circulation, an official at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said the notes would be distributed to all banks by the end of Monday.
Zimbabwe is grappling with hyperinflation now officially estimated at 231 million percent, and its currency is fast losing its value. As of Friday, one U.S. dollar was trading at around ZW$25 billion.
When the government issued a $10 billion note just three weeks ago, it bought 20 loaves of bread. That note now can purchase less than half of one loaf.
Just jumping on the bandwagon. Seems to work as an excuse for scumbag, tin horn dictators and Muslim fanatics world wide.;)Quote:
Originally Posted by sabang
job belongs to the neighbours ...............Quote:
USA is trying to topple him
^That's that plan fooked then.
I think he needs a hug from the EU.
Some treatment or something.
Maybe some free housing and a nice car.
wonder what they are printing them on ?Quote:
Fidelity Printers & Refiners, the state-owned company that tirelessly churns out bank notes for the Mugabe regime, was thrown into a crisis early this month after a German company stopped supplying bank note paper because of concerns over Zimbabwe's recent violent presidential election, widely seen as fraudulent by international observers.
The printing operation slowed drastically. Two-thirds of the 1000-strong workforce was ordered to take leave, and two of the three money-printing shifts were cancelled.
The result on the streets was an immediate cash crunch.
"If you think this currency shortage is bad, wait two weeks. By then it will be a disaster," said a senior Fidelity staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The paper will run out in two weeks, he said.
July 16, 2008
Stop the press: Mugabe out of Monopoly money - World - smh.com.au