Zimbabwe Business Watch : Week 45
November 3rd, 2008
As the national emergency escalates, it is each man for himself as businesses fight for survival.
Everyone is well aware that, given a functional transitional government, some semblance of order can be restored within the economy within weeks. However, as the procrastination continues, companies merely seek to eek out an existence by planning for a few days ahead.
There are examples of large organisations even providing forex to the service utilities such as ZESA in order to complete the repairs necesssary for power generation. Then there are those that provide financial assistance to the country’s biggest coal mine in order that the drag line stays in operation to provide for their needs.
If these problems were not enough, employers are finding it virtually impossible to pay their staff and workers as this large component of expenditure merely sits in the bank, access denied by the daily cash withdrawal limit which still remains at $50 000 in an inflation environment of over 50% a day.
Workers and staff are being paid in salt, sugar and any other available and tradable commodity that can literally be sold on the street, usually for forex. Consumers are now finding that Zim Dollar is becoming virtually unacceptable currency in general trade and commercial transactions and even the impoverished street vendor is insisting on forex.
Share prices continue to rocket as investors seek a safe refuge for their money and the US Dollar traded as high as 1 trillion in Harare, 5 times that of Bulawayo.
