Zimbabwe dollar crashes to all time low

By Tichaona Sibanda
11 November 2008

The country’s currency plunged to a new record low on Monday, trading at an average Z$28,4 quadrillion to the U.S. dollar and triggering massive price increases.

Analysts said the latest rapid weakening of the currency was being driven by SADC’s ruling on the impasse between ZANU PF and the MDC. A huge demand for hard currency has also contributed to this massive financial crash.

Prices of basic goods, most of which are now imported, have gone up sharply since the disputed March 29 election in which Mugabe’s ZANU-PF lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 28 years.
The hyperinflation is now estimated at over a quintillion percent, although no one really knows.

Most Zimbabweans are switching to barter and the Zim dollar is virtually useless. The South African rand and the US dollar are now the most common forms of currency. For the many who are unable to access forex, this means they will be unable to survive.

Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa told us recently that purses and wallets have become redundant; people are now using shopping bags, suitcases, sacks and other large containers to carry cash. Bank tellers are hidden from view by huge piles of the increasingly worthless currency.

Nearly all businesses have stopped accepting cheques for payment – creating an absolute nightmare for everyone, because of the absurd cash withdrawal limits at the banks.
And because of the SADC ruling, there seems to be no end in sight to the nightmare.