Mugabe lashes out at Britain as inflation soars

[The Smoking Man]

Oh, YES!!!

Let's sell this insane fuck more guns.

 

Mugabe lashes out at Britain as inflation soars

By MacDonald Dzirutwe
Wed Jul 16, 12:20 PM ET

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday accused Britain of trying to seize control of resources in the devastated African nation, as his government announced inflation had risen to 2.2 million percent.

Re-elected last month in a widely condemned vote boycotted by the opposition, Mugabe regularly blames his country's economic collapse on former colonial ruler Britain and accuses it of plotting to overthrow his government.

The 84-year-old leader, in power for 28 years, has branded the opposition Movement for Democratic Change a British and American puppet.

"What is Zimbabwe to Britain? The answer has not been provided, but we know what they want. It's regime change, so the resources of our country can come under their control," Mugabe said at the televised launch of a food subsidy program.

Zimbabweans are suffering chronic shortages of meat, maize, fuel and other basic commodities due to the collapse of the once prosperous economy, which critics blame on Mugabe's policies, including his violent seizure of white-owned farms.

Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono announced on Wednesday that inflation had surpassed 2 million percent, a figure already calculated by economists, some of whom now put it much higher.

Officials in February calculated Zimbabwe inflation at 164,900 percent, already the highest in the world.

The worsening economy could add to pressure on the ruling ZANU-PF party to make concessions to the MDC, which refused to recognize Mugabe's victory in the June 27 presidential run-off.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the March 29 first round election but was short of an absolute majority. He pulled out of the second round, citing violence by pro-Mugabe militia.

The MDC says 120 supporters have been killed since March. Mugabe blames the opposition for the bloodshed.

On Wednesday the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the nation's largest labor federation and an ally of Tsvangirai's MDC, denounced Mugabe's re-election and called on the African Union to name a high-profile envoy to enter crisis talks.

The ZCTU suggested the AU appoint a retired African leader to help South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating preliminary negotiations between the MDC and ZANU-PF.

South Africa hopes the two sides will agree on a framework for more substantial talks on a national unity government, seen as the only way to avert wider violence and a total economic meltdown in its northern neighbor.

But no progress has been made.

Tsvangirai demands Mugabe recognize his victory in the March poll and halt violence. Mugabe insists the opposition accept his re-election.

INFLATION DRAGON

Mugabe's efforts to stop hyperinflation and prevent the devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar have been a dismal failure.

His government imposed a draconian price freeze last year in a bid to ease the plight of consumers, prompting stores to stop restocking their shelves. The move worsened shortages of basic items for millions of Zimbabweans.

The central bank also introduced a new dollar, forcing people to exchange their old notes in a process rife with corruption. The currency trades at 300 billion to the U.S. dollar on the black market, over 10 times the official rate.

Mugabe said on Wednesday that the new food subsidy program, which will issue coupons to buy food, was part of a renewed bid to tackle inflation and control pricing practices.

"Government is broadening its fight against the inflation dragon, as well as amply demonstrating to the private sector that those who do not cooperate risk pricing themselves completely out of the market," he said.

It was "a strong message to the corporate sector that the era of unjust price increases has come to an end."

(Writing by Paul Simao; editing by Barry Moody and Philippa Fletcher)

[The Smoking Man]

The Mugabe way to fix inflation:

Zimbabwe drops 10 zeros from inflated currency

By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jul 30, 4:41 PM ET

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."

But in a glimmer of possible rapprochement in Zimbabwe's political turmoil, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai revealed that he met with Mugabe last week for the first time in years and discussed the "pitfalls in any future government" that might emerge from the negotiations.

He didn't indicate their meeting produced any agreement, however.

In a conciliatory gesture, Tsvangirai told Britain's Channel 4 that his longtime rival is as "human as everyone else." However, he added the president is "in denial" about the economic problems and political violence that have swept this once prosperous southern African nation.

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 is little to buy in the shops amid chronic shortages of food, medicine, power and water.

John Takawira, 28, who works in an Internet cafe, said the latest move would do nothing to improve life in Zimbabwe, where 80 percent of the work force in unemployed.

"The prices of goods have already started shooting up," he complained. "This is not going to make any change to my poor life."

Gono acted because the high rate of inflation was hampering the country's computer systems. Computers, electronic calculators and automated teller machines at Zimbabwe's banks cannot handle basic transactions in billions and trillions of dollars.

Inflation, the highest in the world, is officially running at 2.2 million percent in Zimbabwe but independent economists say it is closer to 12.5 million percent.

Economist John Robertson said the new bills would soon be worthless since the rate of inflation continues to skyrocket. What costs $1 at the beginning of the month can cost $20 by month's end, he said.

"This is attending only to the symptoms of the problem. The real problem is the scarcity of everything driving up the prices. ... The government has not only caused the scarcities but damaged our ability to fix the problem."

At the root, he said, is the damage to the farming sector, along with government raids on the state pension fund and foreign currency bank accounts of businesses.

Zimbabwe's trials began nearly a decade ago when white farmers who were the driving force of the economy started supporting Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Mugabe sent supporters to violently invade white-owned farms, saying he was reclaiming ancestral lands for poor black peasants.

Instead, the land went to Mugabe's Cabinet ministers and generals, who left the fields untended. Hundreds of thousands of farm laborers lost their jobs and homes. Today, a third of Zimbabwe's people depend on foreign food aid in a country that once exported food to its neighbors.

Mugabe blames the economic collapse on profiteers and on sanctions by the United States and the European Union.

The worsening conditions have eroded the popularity of Mugabe, who has ruled for 28 years and was long revered for leading Zimbabwe to independence in 1980. He finished second in a March presidential ballot behind Tsvangirai, but won the June runoff after his rival dropped out after violence killed more than 120 opposition activists. Both men now claim the presidency.

In his interview with Channel 4, Tsvangirai said the two leaders had a 90-minute dinner together last week.

"I am sure that there was a common understanding that there is a need to soft land the crisis through a transitional process," he said

South African President Thabo Mbeki flew in to Zimbabwe on Wednesday in yet another bid to mediate in the crisis.

Power-sharing talks that began last week have deadlocked over Mugabe's insistence that he lead any unity government and over what position Tsvangirai should hold in a new administration, according to officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of an agreed media blackout.

"We are still negotiating; we want to succeed," Mugabe said in his broadcast address. "You find room for compromise but sometimes compromise is difficult."

Mbeki told reporters after meeting with Mugabe that talks would resume Sunday in South Africa.

Tsvangirai's party said Wednesday that two more opposition supporters were killed last week, allegedly by Mugabe's followers. "The deaths show that there is no sincerity on the part" of the ruling ZANU-PF party, the opposition said in a statement.

But in his interview, Tsvangirai softened his rhetoric about Mugabe, who the opposition has blamed for the widespread violence.

"He is just as human as every one of us, that he has similar concerns, although, of course, I think he is ignorant, and/or chooses to be in a denial stage as far as violence is concerned," said Tsvangirai, who has been accused of treason, beaten and survived assassination attempts by Mugabe loyalists.

[The Smoking Man]

 Zimbabwe's 'worthless' $100bn notes sell for huge profit on eBay

By Matthew Moore
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 29/07/2008

The Zimbabwean government this week responded to the hyperinflation crippling the country’s economy by knocking 10 zeros of the value of currency.

From Friday notes with a face value of Z$100 billion will be worth Z$10, the equivalent of 50p.

But the inflated notes, which will be legal tender in Zimbabwe until the end of the year, have become desirable collectors items on the eBay, with single notes changing hands for more than £100.
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A Z$100 billion note - the highest denomination in circulation - currently up for auction on the website has already attracted bids of more than £110.

Bank notes with face values of Z$50 billion and Z$25 billion are also being sold, generally advertised in protective plastic sleeves.

They are technically “special agro-cheques” rather than traditional bank notes, and were introduced recently in a desperate attempt to keep pace with soaring food prices that have left millions of Zimbabweans hungry.

Unlike usual bank notes they are marked with issue and expiry dates, making them ever more desirable for collectors.

Under the terms of the revaluation the hyperinflated notes will be valid until the end of the year, when they will be replaced by new notes and coins.

But economists have warned that simply issuing new notes will achieve nothing without accompanying reforms to prevent the government continuing to print extra currency to pay its own bills.

Hyperinflation has been running at 2.2 million per cent a year according to official figures, with economists suggesting the true figure may be far higher.

[The Smoking Man]

Obsolete coins cause chaos at Zimbabwe tills

By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 44 minutes ago

Zimbabweans dug out coins squirreled away years ago in jars and cupboards and headed for the shops, where lines built up as overburdened tellers more accustomed to counting mounds of hyper-inflated dollar notes instead were juggling silver.

The central bank, overwhelmed by stratospheric inflation, this week cut 10 zeros from the currency and reintroduced coins made obsolete in 2002 when they became worthless.

A $1 coin now is worth 10 billion of the old dollars.

On Friday, about 20 $1-coins — or 200 billion Zimbabwe dollars — could buy a loaf of scarce bread if it could be found in a downtown supermarket. That's about $5 at the official rate and $2 at the black market rate that better reflects the value of the currency.

"It has been a chaotic day," said Farayi Chikomba, a teller filling plastic banking bags with coins at a small supermarket at closing time. "Customers have been digging out their old coins."

Lines built up as staff counted the coins.

"It's a bonus for anyone like me who didn't know what to do with coins and didn't throw them away," said businessman Frank Takavara, who carried a cookie jar full that bought him a small sachet of powdered milk.

Chikomba said he received a few new $10 and $20 notes issued by banks Friday. But most purchasers still used coins, old notes or checks. The old currency remains effective until December, being used alongside new bills in the "revalued" currency rate introduced Friday.

The biggest new bill is $500, equivalent to 5 trillion in the old denominations. Two weeks ago, the bank had introduced a $100 billion-dollar note.

Bank executives said many branches still were waiting for deliveries of new currency from the central bank late Friday, the first day of issue.

In setting prices on its menu, a downtown cafe mistakenly slashed nine zeros from its prices instead of the required 10. Until December, prices must be quoted in both new dollars and old dollars, according to a central bank directive.

"Everyone is totally confused. Maybe things will settle down in a few days. It's farcical at the moment," said the cafe manager, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions.

Embattled President Robert Mugabe blamed profiteers and Western sanctions for the economic chaos in the southern African nation and this week warned that if businesses tried to cash in on the mess, he would impose a state of emergency.

There were fears he could use emergency laws to punish rivals should power-sharing talks with the opposition not resolve in his favor.

Both Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai say they won elections this year. Talks being held in a secret location in South Africa under an agreed media blackout were due to resume Sunday. Mugabe has ruled since a guerrilla war forced an end to white minority rule in 1980, in recent years even overcoming opposition within his own party.

Zimbabwe's woes began when Mugabe nearly 10 years ago sent supporters to violently invade white-owned commercial farms that drove the economy, saying he was reclaiming the land for poor black peasants.

Instead, he gave the farms to his Cabinet minister, generals and other cronies. Most were left untended and today Zimbabwe, which once exported food, suffers chronic shortages of everything from food and medication to fuel and electricity.

The lines to which Zimbabweans have become accustomed also grew Friday at banks, where officials said a government notice allows checks to be written in both new and old denominations.

Central bank governor Gideon Gono said he acted this week because inflation was hampering the country's computer systems. Computers, electronic calculators and automated teller machines could not handle basic transactions in billions and trillions of dollars.

Inflation, the highest in the world, is officially running at 2.2 million percent in Zimbabwe but independent economists say it is closer to 12.5 million percent.

Analysts say the slashing of the 10 zeros and the issue of new lower denomination notes failed to address the root causes of inflation, and in real terms zeros will soon return unless inflation is slowed.

[shan]

The best way to deal with inflation is to buy property


Otherwise, millionaires may have nothing left to his name over night

[shan]

Zimbabweans are all poor and starving "billionaires ".