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But Emperor Robert of the Mugabe clan has a solution!
This would be comical if it wasn't so tragic.
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Zimbabwe drops 10 zeros from inflated currency
By ANGUS SHAW, Associated
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe announced Wednesday that it is knocking 10 zeros off its hyper-inflated currency — a move that turns 10 billion dollars into one.
President Robert Mugabe threatened a state of emergency if businesses profiteer from the country's economic crisis, a move that could give him even more sweeping powers to punish opponents in the event that political power-sharing talks fail.
"Entrepreneurs across the board, don't drive us further," Mugabe warned in a nationally televised address after the currency announcement. "If you drive us even more, we will impose emergency measures. ... They can be tough rules."
Central Bank Gov. Gideon Gono announced he was dropping 10 zeros from Zimbabwe's currency, effective Friday. The move comes a week after the issue of a 100 billion-dollar note — still not enough to buy a loaf of bread.
Gono said the new money would be launched with 500-dollar bills. He also said he was reintroducing coins, which have been obsolete for years, and told people to dig out their old ones.
That could be a boon for Fungai Matambo, a 33-year-old vendor of airtime for cell phones who said she has kept a large milk pail full of old coins.
"I'm very happy now," she laughed. "In the old terms, I'm a multi-trillionaire!"
But, she noted, there was little to buy in the shops.
John Takawira, 28, who works in an Internet cafe, said the latest move would do nothing to improve the lives of Zimbabweans.
This would be comical if it wasn't so tragic.
------------------------------------------------------
Zimbabwe drops 10 zeros from inflated currency
By ANGUS SHAW, Associated
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe announced Wednesday that it is knocking 10 zeros off its hyper-inflated currency — a move that turns 10 billion dollars into one.
President Robert Mugabe threatened a state of emergency if businesses profiteer from the country's economic crisis, a move that could give him even more sweeping powers to punish opponents in the event that political power-sharing talks fail.
"Entrepreneurs across the board, don't drive us further," Mugabe warned in a nationally televised address after the currency announcement. "If you drive us even more, we will impose emergency measures. ... They can be tough rules."
Central Bank Gov. Gideon Gono announced he was dropping 10 zeros from Zimbabwe's currency, effective Friday. The move comes a week after the issue of a 100 billion-dollar note — still not enough to buy a loaf of bread.
Gono said the new money would be launched with 500-dollar bills. He also said he was reintroducing coins, which have been obsolete for years, and told people to dig out their old ones.
That could be a boon for Fungai Matambo, a 33-year-old vendor of airtime for cell phones who said she has kept a large milk pail full of old coins.
"I'm very happy now," she laughed. "In the old terms, I'm a multi-trillionaire!"
But, she noted, there was little to buy in the shops.
John Takawira, 28, who works in an Internet cafe, said the latest move would do nothing to improve the lives of Zimbabweans.