07-30-2008, 12:19 PM
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Hall of Fame Poster
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Boston
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Zimbabwe devalues currency; 10B becomes 1 dollar
The figures are so tragic that you really can't do anything but laugh in dismay. WTF is going on there?
Zimbabwe devalues currency; 10B becomes 1 dollar
By ANGUS SHAW
Associated Press Writer
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe will drop 10 zeros from its hyper-inflated currency - turning 10 billion dollars into one - the country's reserve bank said Wednesday. President Robert Mugabe threatened a state of emergency if businesses profiteer from the country's economic and political unraveling.
Shop shelves are empty and there are chronic shortages of everything including medication, food, fuel, power and water. Eighty percent of the work force is unemployed and many who do have jobs don't earn enough to pay for bus fare.
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On Wednesday, central bank governor Gideon Gono announced he was dropping 10 zeros from the currency, effective Friday. That comes a week after he introduced a 100 billion-dollar note which was not enough to buy a loaf of bread.
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Gono said the high rate of inflation was hampering the country's computer systems. Inflation is officially running at 2.2 million percent in Zimbabwe but independent economists say it's closer to 12.5 million percent. Computers, electronic calculators and automated teller machines at Zimbabwe's banks cannot handle basic transactions in billions and trillions of dollars.
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