Mugabe and Gideon Gono’s un-natural disaster
Everyone in Zimbabwe is well aware of inflation and to some degree, has become savvy with their finances.
The main rule is to spend your money as you receive it – even if it means spending it on items you may not need - because of the rate of depletion of our dollar (or bearer cheques as we no longer have actual dollars and cents). This is the only way to survive.
Then: don’t lend, don’t borrow, don’t purchase on credit, don’t pay in advance or don’t even pay a deposit in advance of delivery. These things just don’t work.
But even for the financially savvy, the rate of inflation during the month of May has been staggering.
The drop has been so hard and fast, prices are just a blur of zeros. Many of my friends have said that they often just trust the cashiers when making payments because adding, subtracting, multiplying, counting out handfuls of cash and then trying to check your change is an impossible task to do on the spur of the moment.
You cannot budget ahead and go into a store with the correct cash – inflation does not allow for this luxury.
Time is money.
Last week I hesitated on the price of a spare part for my car. On Monday 19th May I was quoted $35 billion (which looks like this $35,000,000,000-00). On Friday 23rd May I phoned the supplier again to find the price had now gone to $58 billion ($58,000,000,000-00). I rushed down to the store not realizing that they closed at 4pm. Yesterday morning, Tuesday 27th May, I contacted them again and they quoted me an additional $5.8 billion on Friday’s price. (Remember that this time-delay has been during a weekend and Monday was a public holiday, so store has been closed since the last quoted price).
The value of cash withdrawals is restricted by the banks (as per instruction of Mr Gono). I cannot withdraw enough cash to pay for items like my much-needed spare part.
So in addition to this morning’s increase, the supplier has told me that I must add 20% of the value of my purchase onto the payment as I am paying by cheque.
Are you keeping up?
The part now costs 76 billion, five hundred and sixty million dollars ($76,560,000,000-00).
The supplier is calling this additional charge ‘administration expenses’. They explain that it takes the banks 3 to 4 days to clear a cheque and present it in their account. In that time, they lose money. So much so that they cannot replace their stocks. The supplier either transfers the cost to me or he goes under.
The banks cannot keep up, suppliers cannot keep up, customers cannot keep up, wages cannot keep up! The hole is getting deeper and deeper.
I have used the cost of a spare part to illustrate what is happening in our country.
Food costs are increasing at the same rate.
Gono has totally lost control and as the rate of the dollar literally drops by the minute, the suffering increases by the minute.
May 28th, 2008 15:19
From an outsider, it is clear to see that Mugabe, Gono and the whole corrupt regime have totally lost control, and are groping in the dark trying to cling to power. It is heading for total disaster, and surely everything will grind to a complete halt if something isn’t done very soon. Run off or no run off, win or no win, this regime has dug itself into a giant hole that they cannot get out of.
What is also clear is the remarkeble tenacity of the people of Zimbabwe having to put up with all this utter madness. Absolutely amazing how you are coping with this lunacy, and truly admirable.
May 28th, 2008 16:53
I don’t understand why people still use this currency instead of, say, cigarettes, batteries, eggs, fuel coupons or indeed almost anything portable.
I worked out that the face value of a single crumb of bread is $1000. If you sellotaped it to a piece of paper you would have a thousand dollar note that would keep its value for longer than the paper equivalent.
May 28th, 2008 17:17
Dear Noktula,
A contries currency is like a share in a company. When the share price falls its because the company is bankrupt.
Thanks to some stupid people that do not realise that, Zimbabwe is now bankrupt.
FIRE THE MANAGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 28th, 2008 17:29
So are the salaries catching up? How nuch are the people earning in Zimbabwe. For interest sake? Can anyone with an idea post us….
May 28th, 2008 19:45
@ 4th Chim. Re. Salaries
Last year Mugabe tried to reverse the law of gravity. He decreed that all wages should be frozen and said that salaries and fees could only be increased with specific approval of the incomes and prices commission. Naturally the ZCTU were not amused by this and stated that it was economically wrong and morally suicidal. Teachers and civil servants were affected, but how it affected the army I’m not quite sure. Suffice to say that if it did, many soldiers will also have been demanding salary reviews. Not forgetting, of course, that whatever the effects have been,(a) it hasn’t reduced inflation one iota, and (b) only 20% of the population would be affected anyway as unemployment is currently running at 80%.
May 30th, 2008 04:45
Gono funded Grace Mugabe’s extravagance.
Grace is probably one of the biggest crooks out of them all, and Bob probably pales in comparison.
article in newszimbabwe.com
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/shopper2.11947.html