Inflation+in+zimbabwe

 In the past decade, Zimbabwe has experiences a deep recession and incredibly high inflation. It is an unimaginable situation for most Zimbabweans, who  are deprived even of the most basic luxuries such as margarine, meat, or a cup of tea. Prices continue to grow immensely by the day, with the smallest bill in circulation being $500. Currently, Zimbabwe’s inflation doubles about once every three or four months, leaving it as the world’s highest inflation.
 * Inflation in Zimbabwe **

__The Government and Inflation __  Robert G. Mugabe was the president of Zimbabwe at the time until 2008, until he lost the election by two votes on March 29 to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, which led to a runoff election on June 27. The inflation is a result of Mr. Mugabe’s government printing trillions of new Zimbabwean dollars. It began in about 2000, when the president seized white owned commercial farms, which caused foreign investors to leave, causing prices to rise as there was only a slight supply of goods and foreign currency that were needed to buy imports. In November, inflation was 400 percent and went up to 600 percent in January, but increased even more when the government paid $221 million to the International Monetary Fund because their membership in the organization was threatened. To buy the American dollars after the debt, the government confessed to printing $21 trillion, leading to a 914 percent per year in March. The rates have gone so high that US $1 buys an average Z$1 billion. Many blame the country’s ruler, Mugabe, who has created a 25-bedroom mansion for himself along with the mansions of top ministers and military allies while Zimbabweans suffer.

__ Consequences: __  For most people in Zimbabwe, it is an unavoidable hardship. Even if they do have money, a loaf of bread costs Z$600 million, for which a cart is needed. Not a whole roll of toilet paper, but a two-ply sheet costs $145,750 or 69 cents American. Ayina Musoni, a 58-year old woman and her divorced daughter Regai and her two children share their five-room house with three lodgers, who pay Z$3 million or US$14.25 in total per month, in the suburb of Glen Norah. There are only a few bottles of water in their tiny kitchen, and Christmas dinner was corn porridge with eggs while at Easter there was nothing. Ayina and Regai sell vegetables every day from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for a salary of $10 American per week. Most people live like this and some even worse. But in the country’s rural areas, farming is the only industry and the people are assured free monthly provisions from donors such as the United Nations.

In another three-room house in Highfield, south of town, Unity Motize, 64, and her husband, Simeon, shared the other two rooms with their two sons, their wives and two children. But after police bulldozed the homes of hundreds of thousands of such slum-dwellers, they were left homeless.

Many people’s survival depends on outsiders who donate food or medicine or relatives who have left the country for a better life, mostly in Britain, South Africa, or the United States. In total, about 3 million Zimbabweans have already left the country.

__The Future: __

 Despite the government’s claims that they have a plan which will revive the economy, this is highly unlikely Zimbabwe will most probably endure greater hardship, according to economist, Mr. Robertson. He also says that there will be “much more inflation… because this government is always going to be printing its way out of its current difficulty.” Mugabe continues to order more printing of money and is determined to stay in power. Due to political unrest and the heaving inflation, the situation will get a lot worse before it gets better.