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Zimbabwe dollar sheds 12 zeros

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posted on Feb, 4 2009 @ 05:01 AM
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Once again, Gideon Sono, the worlds worst financial minister has done it:
BBC


There was a rumour recently that that Zim would even be doing away with it's own currency entirely and just using foreign currency such as the rand, dollar and pound, Euro, and Botswana Pula.

However, thay have slashed 12 zeroes off their currency, declared foreign currencies legal, and decided to allow forex trading - which basically amounts to the same thing.
Link 1

Here is a mind-boggling quote from The Times:

To counter an inflation rate that economists now estimate to be 5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (five sextillion) per cent, Mr Gono has now struck 25 zeros from the plunging national currency since August 2006. One American dollar would now buy Z$2,500,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000 (2.5 octillion) had he not done so.

TimesOnline

Mr Sono shares his delusions with Mugabe:

Mr Gono, 49, recently published an autobiography – sold only in US dollars, in violation of his own currency regulations – in which he claimed that President Bush had offered him the post of senior vice-president at the World Bank last July.


Quite hysterically funny, if it wasn't for the fact that people are dying while this man should be locked up in a padded cell.



posted on Feb, 4 2009 @ 05:33 AM
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5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000



and people say life is normal... does make one think?


sad.



posted on Feb, 4 2009 @ 05:59 AM
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Only in here in Africa


IT is quite extraordinary what one read in the news papers and listen to the radio. The, so called, People In Power is doing not much a marvelous job down here



posted on Feb, 4 2009 @ 06:43 AM
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I am constantly amazed at how long a country can go without disappearing in a cloud of dust and is no longer to maintain any semblance of structure. Zimbabwe is like a zombie movie where the creature just struggles on and on until you discover the secret of killing it - chop off the head.

Members from countries like the USA start losing their marbles when they find they can't find their favourite brand of chocolate spread on their local shelves and declare that it is surely a sign that the end is near. Let me assure them that the United States of America is still relatively healthy compared to many countries.



posted on Feb, 4 2009 @ 06:52 AM
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"sheds" .. or "gains" ??

"sheds" would mean it LOST those zeros...


-



posted on Feb, 4 2009 @ 07:09 AM
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reply to post by prevenge
 


"Sheds" ... a month ago they issued a $100 trillion dollar bank note. They found to their amazement that people and computers could no handle all them so they decided to chop off all those pesky extra zero's.


And so far since 2006 they have chopped off a total of 25 zero's from their currency. Withing 6 months they are all back again because of their insanely high inflation rate.

You can theoretically walk into a restaurant there, order a meal, and by the time you have finished eating, it would cost 4 times more.

[edit on 4/2/2009 by deltaalphanovember]



posted on Feb, 4 2009 @ 07:39 AM
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Originally posted by deltaalphanovember
Members from countries like the USA start losing their marbles when they find they can't find their favourite brand of chocolate spread on their local shelves and declare that it is surely a sign that the end is near.


Funny observation.

But, yes, it's very harsh for the people in Zimbabwe. A friend of mine told me that people wouldn't open a bar tab there because drinks would cost more by the end of the night than the beginning.

What is the cause of this runaway inflation? I know it's the finance minister, but what exactly has he done?

What would you do to curb it?



posted on Feb, 4 2009 @ 07:54 AM
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reply to post by HiAliens
 


Zimbabwe has to look back to when things were good and they were the darling of Western countries. Back when they were the bread basket of Africa and a poster child for African Rule.

In the above statement lies the way back for them, a truth that they refuse to admit: "bread basket".
When the farmers were strong, when they were exporting maize, world quality tobacco and beef to rival the worlds best, they maintained a positive trade balance.
Tourists flocked to their well-managed game parks and other attractions. Zimbabwe was a safe and relatively inexpensive destination.

Foreign companies were free to compete in an environment with minimal state intervention. Investment from the outside caused job creation and prosperity.

What will fix Zimbabwe now? All of the above, a hell of a lot of foreign investment, intelligent forward thinking pragmatic leaders and a lot of time.

Will Zimbabwe get this? Not soon. They may recover but they still need to find that road to recovery first.

Here's a crazy idea: put Zimbabwe under curatorship of South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, USA, UK, China and France. Much like a company that goes bankrupt. hmm



posted on Feb, 9 2009 @ 06:15 AM
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Well oddly enough South African President Kgalema Motlanthe has said the following recently:

President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Sunday that Zimbabwe, crippled by a record inflation rate, could adopt the South African Rand as its standard currency. "We have to help them so that the coalition government works," Motlanthe said in an interview with the SABC channel, referring to power-sharing between President Robert Mugabe and prime minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai. It "may be practical for them to enter into an arrangement with the reserve bank here and allow the rand to become the common currency," he added, without fleshing out his suggestion.

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In the comments section, there are mixed feelings to this ranging from outright horror, to some thoughtful "maybe it will work" comments.

I don't have enough knowledge on economics to comment but my gut feel is that Zimbabwe life as a country would be effectively over, and would merely become a another poor South African province.



posted on Feb, 9 2009 @ 06:39 AM
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my mum thinks mugarbe is like a black hitler "even has that crazy style hitler tash thing.."

he is murding his own people after being a so called "freedom fighter"

the guy needs to go ASAP nutjob!!



posted on Feb, 9 2009 @ 08:18 PM
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Has he ever had an assassination attempt because i'm surprised no one has tried to get rid of it somehow.



posted on Feb, 10 2009 @ 12:09 AM
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Originally posted by jatsc
Has he ever had an assassination attempt because i'm surprised no one has tried to get rid of it somehow.


Noone who can do something about it cares.... He holds his position by illegal means and his country has gone down the . Isn't this something the UN or Commonwealth or whatever should do something about?



posted on Feb, 10 2009 @ 04:03 AM
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Yes there have been attempts on his life - the latest I can find is from December:

The Zimbabwean government has accused the opposition of being behind a failed "assassination attempt" against the widely feared head of the air force, Perence Shiri, who was shot and wounded in the arm. The government described the shooting as the latest in a series of "terror attacks" as the opposition "prepares for war" and "presses the west to invade Zimbabwe".

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posted on Feb, 10 2009 @ 04:06 AM
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reply to post by deltaalphanovember
 


There is some confusion whether the the assassination attempt I posted earlier was directly on Mugabe or one of his henchmen - the Air Force General. However here is another incident from 2007:

Two men die in a crash involving the President's motorcade, in what security forces believe was an attempted assassination President Robert Mugabe's motorcade - notorious for its strict security procedures and high-speed travel - came to a sudden halt in Harare today when a mystery vehicle evaded outriders and guards before smashing into a security vehicle. Both drivers died at the scene.

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posted on Feb, 12 2009 @ 08:43 AM
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Update:

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was not considering the use of the rand to anchor its worthless currency, the central bank said yesterday. This follows a suggestion by President Kgalema Motlanthe on an SABC Sunday broadcast that it "may be practical for [Zimbabwe] to enter into an arrangement with the Reserve Bank here and allow the rand to become the common currency" to help Zimbabwe's crippled economy, now that a government of unity was in place. Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, told Business Report yesterday that a formal bi-monetary arrangement with South Africa "is not an option we are considering", adding: "I have not exercised my mind on this issue."

www.busrep.co.za...

I really don't think Gideon should attempt to exercise his mind anymore ... he has caused enough damage as it is.



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