Inflation drops again in Zimbabwe

i was having a conversation with a friend of mine this morning about the zimbabwean hyperinflation. he told me that it wasn't really hyperinflation per se; or rather, the inflation was only in zimbabwean dollar terms. in USD terms, prices have been flat or declining for the past two years. so, with the zimdollar spending a year dead for tax reasons, greenbacks and rand are filling in the gaps.

Hmmm, inflation dropping dramatically and all the sanctions still in place? All those pro-Mugabe syncopates who blamed the skyrocketing inflation on the mean and nasty white racists sanctions have choked on their own propaganda.

It's a basic law of economics as old as the human race.... money and investor confidence flows AWAY from unstable and uncertain countries..... with or without sanctions.

Uncle Bob's 'robber-nomics' and abuse of human rights are the only reason the Zim dollar got reduced to less that loo paper.

Hopefully the people of Zim will vote more wisely in the next election with their brains (for a better future) rather than with their hearts (for a man well past his sell-by date).

To Tokunbo Olowokandi. Inflation is inflation, therefore I dont know which economic you studied. Which field are you an expert in, please dont tell me ICT. Who wrote your examinations for you? Where are the US$ and Rands coming from, please dont tell us from the Zimbabweans in the diaspora. Remember people import things and pay taxes. So if you are interested in contributing here, we need facts not opinions, as everyone has them. What we are interested in hearing is how best Africa can move forward instead of this blame, Mugabe, blame Zuma nonsense. We dont want traders and professionals who didn't really study for the subjects that they are now professing to be experts in. Please remember who you are.What is your true name?

i live in south africa and am paid in euro. because i'm paid in euro, most of the "inflation" and "interest rate hikes" going on in south africa didn't affect me because of the devaluation of the rand -- i can pretty much say "all" because i rent my apartment and i don't drive, and all of my credit cards are denominated in euro.

in rand terms, my salary has increased much faster than it did in euro, due to rand devaluation. in 2009, however, i'm down about 15% since the global financial crisis started. that said, in 2005, it was less than R10 to a euro. so i'm still ahead.

this is much the case wrt the hyperinflation in zimbabwe. if you had access to us dollars, then it was a point of "what hyperinflation?" the problem is that not many people did. gids tried to enforce a policy of "zimdollar is the only legal currency" but it had so many loopholes it was ridiculous. that said, it kept the money traders busy, sending the exchange rate to a figure, as one of my friends put it, closely approximating avogadro's number.

btw, you seem to think that i'm "from" nigeria. i'm not. tokunbo is a name given to a boy who is born outside of traditional yoruba lands [ie outside of nigeria]. while i'm entitled to a green passport, the three i carry are cranberry-ish, blue, and black.

#If you are actually interested in What is happening in Zimbabwe try:

http://www.swradioafrica.com/News180609/Update180609.htm

To find out about the beaten WOZA members in Zim police custody, currently being denied medical treatment on the grounds thhey "embarrassed the govt" by testing out the "new Conditions under the Unity govt" by holding a peaceful demonstration and are now learning that nothing has changed.

Apart from the fact that the MDC are now in the Govt responsible for beating them up.

Sorry, Mr Olowokandi and friend...what is happening is that the 'rate' of inflation has dropped, not the fact that inflation is taking place. Prices are continuing to rise, though slightly more slowly. Telephone bills of USD 5000, water bills for non-existent water, over 1,000, electricity bills...what electricity? also over 1,000. Fuel steady at USD 1.30 a litre.

@Mkhize; with less than 10% of the population in paying jobs, the taxes are scant; importers do pay taxes, significant ones, and then have to find people with the money to buy their goods, so the imports are way down;

The supermarkets are indeed stocked, but there is a VAST difference between the crowded stores in December when there was still Diaspora money, and now when there is very little of it around.

The situation is rather like the Captain of the Titanic saying, 'we're sinking more slowly'. Infrastructure has been eroded after 30 years of neglect and there are slim picking for investors;

Since there is no ready investment money in Zimbabwe at the moment, the country would appear to have two choices; continue as a beggar towards the rest of the world feeding more than 7 million of the almost 9 million left in the country; or Parliament can repeal repressive ownership & BEE legislation, and restore the rule of law, so that such investors might wish to consider coming into the country would have some positive reasons to do so.

And to you, Thuthukani, who the hell are you to question Tokunbo? Whatever you studied, basic English grammar couldn't have featured much. Everyone is entitled to their own opnion and to share it - something Mugabe still needs to grasp. Where is the foreign currency coming from? I'm sure a lot of the multinationslas still present and now importing currency to keep their operations alive and pay salaries, the odd bit of aid, etc, would explain it.

To Frank. Tokunbo is of Nigerian origins, but has an American, Irish and Nigerian passports. What is sad is having people who talk without the facts. Marriage to get passports is wrong, and I know how other nationalities take advantage of South African. Please explain to some of us who trust no Europeans, which country has ever developed with Aid, instead of trade, ZERO. So stop this high might attitude that for anything to happen in Africa the money ahs to come from Europe. Understand this European are not as wealthy as we are shown, otherwise why would the fight so hard to stay in poor Africa. Common sense tells us, that corruption came into Africa through white settlers, who have never changed since their arrival. Liars, lairs, cheaters and dividers.

LA QUEBECOISE. Please get real. Unless you are a person who believes that only the white man is capable of ruling and running institutions, so what happened in Europe and US Meltdown. Logic is why the fear of removing sanctions, because trade will start the economy moving.

Alisdair Budd, get real its like asking a right wing paper to talk about slavery. WOZA(Come), what is that. Its not be coincidence that they organised their marches with the arrival of the Amnesty Authority. Simply put, inconveniencing others to get in the papers to say there is no democracy and human rights. Try and protest in Europe and see what happens. Rule of law is not being unruly.

Tokunbo, with all respect get your facts right and just use one passport like the rest of us. My position wont change, dont believe the illusion, know what keeps Europe annoyed by Mugabe, its about the nerve he touched. Read the last statment which was spoken by De Klerk on Frost Meets The World. The White man will never respect a black man, and trust is a word which should be understood. Tolerance maybe as long as the white men is winning, all is well, the minute they stop benefitting, then you are the enemy. FACTS.

But even with prices falling, few people can afford to buy food in a country where the unemployment rate is estimated at 94% so whats the unity government planning for the unemployed, disabled, elderly, and the marjority returning home.