I’m not an economist by any stretch — sort of the opposite, really. But this blows me away:
When I arrived in Zimbabwe, the exchange rate we got was roughly 180,000 zim to $1US.
When I left, it was about 340,000 zim to $1US.
Today, it’s 1,000,000 zim to $1US.
Jesus christ on toast.
A little over a year ago, they dropped the last three numbers off of the currency, in an effort to stop the insane numbers. The official bank rate was set at 250 zim to $1US, but recently increased to 30,000 zim to $1US. But of course, the black market rate is the one that is actually used.
A million zim. Sheesh. The first time I got money changed, a million zim was worth about $5. Now it’s $1. This sort of inflation just blows me away.
I listen to a BBC world news podcast and they have stories about Africa enough that I’ve heard of this. From what I understand, people from Zimbabwe are flooding into South Africa.
and have been for years. :)
Well, hasn’t Zimbabwe been heading downhill for years?
Alas, yes.