A groundswell of international sympathy went to the people of Zimbabwe last Monday, as the country plunged further into the abyss, with the introduction of a Z$100 billion (Zimbabwean dollars) note, equivalent to one United States, US, dollar, as a legal tender in the country. The new note, people within the country say, can barely purchase a loaf of bread or four oranges in the Zimbabwean economy of today. One Zimbabwean man said the new note will not even cover his bus fare. ” it’s worthless, worth naught. Nowadays, for my expenses a day, I need about Z$500 billion,” he said. The country is believed to be suffering from a typical case of stagflation, where pricse skyrocket every single minute of the day. Officially estimated at 2.3 million per cent at present, the country’s inflation rate is the highest in the world today; followed by Burma’s which comes a distant second at 39.5 per cent. As a result, nmost Zimbabwean professionals have left the country in search of greener pastures particularly in neighbouring countries, such as South Africa and Botswana.
In recent weeks., the national power authority has warned of a collapse of electrical service. A breakdown in water treatment has set off a new outbreak of cholera in the capital. Harare. All public services were cut off in Marondera, a regional capital of 50,000 in eastern Zimbabwe, after the city ran out of money to fix broken equipment. In Chitungwiza, just south of Harare, electicity is supplied but four days a week. The government awarded all civil servants a 300 per cent raise just two weeks ago. But the increase is only a fraction of the inflation rate, so the nation’s 110,000 teachers are staging a work slow down for more money; measured by the black-market value of Zimbabwe’s ragtag currency, even their new salaries total less than $60 a month.
Doctors and nurses have been on strike for five weeks. Seeking a mammoth pay increase, and health care is all but non-existent. Harare’s police chief warned in a recently leaked memo that if officers did not get a substantial raise, they might riot. In the past eight months, ” there’s been a huge collapse in living standards,”