Zimbabwe inflation soars to 2.2million%

Zimbabwe's official rate of annual inflation has hit 2.2m%, the country's central bank said today – a 13-fold increase on the last official rate, in February.

"Statistics provided by the CSO [Zimbabwe's central statistical office] indicate that [inflation] is now at 2.2m%," the AFP news agency quoted the bank's governor, Gideon Gono, as saying in a speech in Harare.

Inflation has spiralled wildly amid an almost complete collapse of the Zimbabwean economy in recent years, which has prompted around 3 million people to flee the country for South Africa. An estimated 80% of Zimbabwe's population live in poverty, and life expectancy is 37 for men and 34 for women, the world's lowest.

*www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/16/zimbabwe

Just for the record:
150 Billion Zimbabwe Dollars = 1 Pound (or 80 Rs.)

1 KG of apple in Zimbabwe sells for about 15 Million Zimbabwe Dollars!
Incredible

Oh I think now I can finally buy a country

This is really sad. Really the UN needs to me more strict with Zimb. I dont know why 2 of the big 5 (i think Rus and China) vetoed the UN resolution.

See how one man F**K and entire country!

^^Very true..

Seriously. He screwed up their entire economy with one stupid decision.

Aww.. Bad news.. Even if you have a few million dollars, you cant buy anything!

T

Surprised to read that.!!!

yeah the UN must do something about Mugabe`s dictorial regime.

Our inflation up to 11.89%.

A

South Africa is better than Zimbabwe

really that's strange and shocking....

Why cant the f.cking us stop those war and amount wasted in wars and help these poor people......

Interesting ...

more abt this hyperinflation in wiki
talking abt burning money....!!!

*upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Inflation-1923.jpg/250px-Inflation-1923.jpg
1923 Weimar Republic inflation: A German woman feeding a stove with Papiermarks, which burned longer than the amount of firewood people could buy with them.

*img329.imageshack.us/img329/5338/hyperinflationwf7.jpg
*img329.imageshack.us/img329/5338/hyperinflationwf7.550ed396d7.jpg

Thats quite enterprising.
That reminds me of Ambani who melted coins in Yemen cos their metal value was more than the currency value.

Found this in wikipedia :

The government instituted a six-month freeze on wages on September 1, 2007. It bars businesses from indexing wages or fees to inflation, a method employed in many wage agreements.

*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe

This is crazy. Stop your bs land reform policy. Outlawing inflation or using tricks like these would never work.

atleast there is a small silver lining. since most of africa shares the same culture and language, along with religion, its easier for Zimbabwe citizens to migrate elsewhere.

And here I was worried when the pwnage tool for the iphone is going to be released...

goobimama said:
And here I was worried when the pwnage tool for the iphone is going to be released...

but don't you think its somewhat odd now ? that we people discuss about technology, engage in fan wars and start eagerly waiting for different hardware, while at the same time, those poor people of zimbabwe suffer, with their money seeming more worthless than ever and the government being forced to print 1,000,000$ notes ?

Thats so sad actually.
And we are upset with the <12% figure.

The upside is with just 1Re, we can buy 577,882,197 Zimbabwe Dollar.

Millionaire anyone?

thats it. I am going to invest 100 rupees in zimbabwe dollar. later, when mugambe or what ever his name is gets murdered, the country will fall back to normal and I can go to zimbabwe and get myself a few alienware rigs.

@naveen

Why shud US help, what would they gain? After all every country looks for its own profit first and US is the king of the hill in such things.

.

^Then why UN was constituted? To bring peace & stabilty, right? Where are they? Busy looting Iraq, i guess.

MetalheadGautham said:
but don't you think its somewhat odd now ? that we people discuss about technology, engage in fan wars and start eagerly waiting for different hardware, while at the same time, those poor people of zimbabwe suffer, with their money seeming more worthless than ever and the government being forced to print 1,000,000$ notes ?

Hmm. You appear not to understand what I meant to say. I meant to say that here I was thinking of such trivial things like iPhones when these people are having such major problems.

God, bless citizens of Zimbabwe

@Goobimama
Thats exactly what MetalHead said
And thats right..while we talk about poor download speeds, MS flame wars, and the likes, these people (in an era of technological advancement) live each day with fear of going bankrupt and dying of starvation. I've learnt about Hyper inflation during the Great Depression of the 30s in Europe which effected Germany the most and (sadly) led to the rise of dictatorship (Read: Nazism, Fascism came about during the Depression and showed how disgraceful can life be).
I hope the situation improves and History doesnt repeat itself

thewisecrab said:
@Goobimama
Thats exactly what MetalHead said
And thats right..while we talk about poor download speeds, MS flame wars, and the likes, these people (in an era of technological advancement) live each day with fear of going bankrupt and dying of starvation. I've learnt about Hyper inflation during the Great Depression of the 30s in Europe which effected Germany the most and (sadly) led to the rise of dictatorship (Read: Nazism, Fascism came about during the Depression and showed how disgraceful can life be).
I hope the situation improves and History doesnt repeat itself

+1. All this suffering makes me feel like a hypocrite when I try to decide which distro to use, while these poor people are trying to decide which item to mortgage or which country to run away to. Families decide which child goes hungry each night. :cry:

Reading this i remember the saying:
I cried and cried when I didnt get new shoes until I saw the man who had no feet

1 Indian Rupee = 577,882,197 Zimbabwe Dollar

Source:
Current rate from *www.oanda.com/convert/classic

rahimveron said:
^Then why UN was constituted? To bring peace & stabilty, right? Where are they? Busy looting Iraq, i guess.

UN aur US mein confuse mat ho. US country hai - America, UN international body hai. Iraq mein US hai, UN ne attack allow nahi kiya tha!

UN ne Zimbabwe mein jo ho sakta tha woh kiya tha. yahan se aagey woh bhi kuch nahi kar sakta.

OMG thats fu**ing sad.
All our good wishes to them.
wish i had a few US $ in my paypal for them.( Those USD will mean huge for them.)

Here's an update.. Zimbabwe issued the first 100bn dollar note
Here check this out
*timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Zimbabwe_prints_Z100bn_note/articleshow/3254421.cms

I am really appalled at the measures they are taking for curbing inflation. They are printing notes ..!! From whatever little economics I know, the currency rate is a function of balance of payment of a country and if you keep putting a lot of liquidity in the system (what Zimbabwe is doing right now) the price will rise. Now this will have cascading effect : your currency value will deteriorate and your imports will become dearer while your exports will become cheaper and the same cycle will continue. Your trade partners will start charging you more because your risk profile has gone up .. Phew ..

Im looking on Ebay to find a billion ZWD note to keep just for record that I am a multi billionare in ZWD ..

it_waaznt_me said:
I am really appalled at the measures they are taking for curbing inflation. They are printing notes ..!! From whatever little economics I know, the currency rate is a function of balance of payment of a country and if you keep putting a lot of liquidity in the system (what Zimbabwe is doing right now) the price will rise. Now this will have cascading effect : your currency value will deteriorate and your imports will become dearer while your exports will become cheaper and the same cycle will continue. Your trade partners will start charging you more because your risk profile has gone up .. Phew ..

Im looking on Ebay to find a billion ZWD note to keep just for record that I am a multi billionare in ZWD ..

Okay I didn't understand a word of what you just said

Although I'm in for buying a 100bn note. If you find someone, do consider me as well.

Charan said:
Interesting ...

more abt this hyperinflation in wiki
talking abt burning money....!!!

*img329.imageshack.us/img329/5338/hyperinflationwf7.jpg
*img329.imageshack.us/img329/5338/hyperinflationwf7.550ed396d7.jpg

Viva la revolucion !

Thats nuking futs!

*img519.imageshack.us/img519/9400/19sld1jv8.jpg

it_waaznt_me said:
I am really appalled at the measures they are taking for curbing inflation. They are printing notes ..!! From whatever little economics I know, the currency rate is a function of balance of payment of a country and if you keep putting a lot of liquidity in the system (what Zimbabwe is doing right now) the price will rise. Now this will have cascading effect : your currency value will deteriorate and your imports will become dearer while your exports will become cheaper and the same cycle will continue. Your trade partners will start charging you more because your risk profile has gone up .. Phew ..

+1.
You put things in the simplest possible language yet you gave a perfect analysis of the situation in Zimbabwe.

it_waaznt_me said:
Im looking on Ebay to find a billion ZWD note to keep just for record that I am a multi billionare in ZWD ..

Count Me In Too :grin:

How much does it translate to in Rupees and/or Dollars ?

Well ... I tried and found that they are issuing only bearer cheques .. (they have a validity period) .. And ZWD doesnt appear that cheap on eBay ..

Too bad SBI doesnt have any office in Zimbabwe or I'd have tried something from there ..