Hyperinflation? This is Hyperinflation.
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The Australian reports that Zimbabwe's currency is not worth the paper it's printed on.
Let's take a look.
When Roy Bennett, a former opposition MP, finished his jail sentence this month for shoving one of Mr Mugabe's ministers, he received the release gratuity of $Z6 to help him "re-enter society".
It showed how sublimely out of touch the Government is. A box of matches costs $Z1000.
Inflation hit 164 per cent last month. Economists predict it will double in five months, and again three months after that. This time last year, pound stg. 1 fetched $Z8500 on the black market, increasingly the only real exchange. Yesterday it fetched $Z54,000.
The $Z20,000 bill is the currency's highest denomination and its most common unit. It is not a banknote, however, but a bearer cheque - and most carry a 2004 expiry date.
The Government has cut fuel prices for buses and minibuses to $Z6000 a litre, so minibus drivers fill up, drive around the corner and sell the fuel for up to $Z120,000 a litre, then rejoin the queue.
That is hyperinflation. Anyone that thinks the situation in the US will remotely look like this any time soon is nuts.
Mike Shedlock / Mish
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
