• $240,000 Zimbabwean dollars
• $100 Rand
• £83 Pounds
• Owners manual for my Tilley
• A South Carolina detailed coastal expeditions map
• Well-worn street maps of San Francisco and Paris with hand-written notes
• A ferry schedule for the Aran Flyer in northwest Scotland
• Used ticket for Saimsa at the Claddagh in Galway

Fun stuff.

The rate of inflation in Zimbabwe jumped to just over 11,250,000% in June, official figures show.

“It gained 9,035,045.5 percentage points from the May rate of 2,233,713.4%,” said state media quoting the Central Statistical Office (CSO).

However, experts believe the actual rate of inflation may be much higher.

Our “experts” — family and friends living in Zim — tell us inflation is much closer to 40,000,000%. The BBC also said:

Earlier this month, Zimbabwe’s central bank chief called for a six-month freeze on prices and wages in a bid to rein in spiralling inflation.

“Zimbabweans must realise that the country is in a practically binding state of socio-economic emergency,” Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono said.

“As such, there is need for a universal moratorium on all incomes and prices for a minimum period of six months,” he added.

Previous estimates, dating to the 1980s, put the number of western lowland gorillas at less than 100,000. But the animal’s numbers were believed to have fallen by at least 50 percent since then due to hunting and disease, researchers said. The newly discovered gorilla population now puts their estimated numbers at between 175,000 to 225,000.

This is excellent news. If you haven’t read Nat Geo’s “Who Murdered the Virunga Gorillas” published in last month’s Magazine, you should.

“The Zimbabwe dollar will be redenominated by a factor of one to 10, which means we are removing 10 zeros from our monetary value. Ten billion dollars today will be reduced to Z$1… effective from 1 August,” Mr Gono said in a television broadcast.

This news is somewhat welcome, I suppose. There’s a severe cash shortage in Zimbabwe and the country’s financial system is in ruin. The BBC reported on Wednesday:

The new Z$100bn (under $2, £1) note introduced last week is not enough to buy a loaf of bread. Inflation is officially running at more than 2,000,000%, but many analysts believe the true inflation figure is at least 9,000,000%.

A BBC reporter in Harare said that on the day he recently went shopping, a tray of 24 eggs went up from Z$375bn to Z$600bn. 

So far this year, Zimbabwe has been forced to print Z$100m, Z$250m and Z$500m notes in rapid succession, now mostly worthless.

Remember in 2006, Gono removed 3 zeros from the Zimbabwean dollar making a total of 13 zeros stripped in just 2 years.

The counting of zeros had already become a nightmare for bankers and shoppers before the introduction of the new note – which at the time of writing would buy about two loaves of bread.
So far this year, the country ravaged by hyperinflation has been forced to print 100-million, 250-million and 500-million notes in rapid succession. All of them are now almost worthless.
It has become common now for Zimbabweans to talk of their daily expenses in trillions (one trillion has 12 zeros).

There so sign of this inflation slowing down. Official rates are now quoted at 2,200,000% but independent estimates put that number closer to 20 million percent. What I find historically fascinating is that Zimbabwe holds neither the world record for the highest inflation rate nor the largest denomination bank note. The RBZ issued a $100 billion note just last week. On the topic of historical hyper-inflation, Wikipedia says:

Hungary went through its worst inflation in modern history in 1945-46. Before 1945, the highest denomination was 1,000 pengő. By the end of 1945, it was 10,000,000 pengő. The highest denomination in mid-1946 was 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 pengő. The rate of inflation was 4.19 quintillion (4.19 x 10¹⁸) percent.

IHT.com reports:

Zimbabwe’s feuding political leaders appeared jointly for the first time in years on Monday to sign a preliminary agreement laying out terms for negotiations to wrest their land out of political chaos.

The ceremony in a Harare hotel was overseen by Thabo Mbeki, the president of neighboring South Africa who labored for months as a mediator, defying critics who said his efforts merely gave Mugabe time to outwit his opponents. Mr. Mbeki sat between the two men as they signed, Reuters reported from Harare.

The agreement “commits the negotiating parties to an intense program of work to try and finalize negotiations as quickly as possible,” Mbeki said, without giving details.

The BBC reports today the official rate of inflation in Zimbabwe is now 2,200,200%. 

The figure is the first official assessment of prices in the troubled African nation since February, when the rate of inflation stood at 165,000%.

Zimbabwe, once one of the richest countries in Africa, has descended into economic chaos largely blamed on the policies of President Robert Mugabe.

…

In May, the central bank issued a 500m Zimbabwe dollar banknote, worth US$2 at the time of issue, to try to ease cash shortages amid the world’s highest rate of inflation.

This is in stark contrast with the situation at independence in 1980 when one Zimbabwe dollar was worth more than US$1.

We’ve heard that prices are changing so fast, if you’re lucky enough to find something on the shelves at the stores, by the time you reach the register to pay for it, the price has doubled.
 

Sokwanele.com reports:

The USD, trading at over Z$30 billion to 1 on Friday [June 27th] opened [Tuesday July 1] at over Z$60 billion.

In breaking-news this morning, German paper company Giesecke & Devrient GmbH of Munich has stopped supplying the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe with bank note paper with “immediate effect” under mounting international pressure.

The image above shows the new 50 000 000 000 000 note, released on the 15th May and has just come into circulation — never forget to put back the three zeros removed by Gideon Gono, Governor of the Zimbabwe Reserve Bank, in 2006.

via Sokwanele. (Sokwanele means “enough is enough” in Shona and Ndebele)

This is a huge week on the international stage of diplomacy. Zimbabwe’s second round of presidential elections is scheduled for this Friday, however, Tsvangirai has backed out of the race. It’s the second time Mugabe’s challengers have backed out the week before the election; two opponents pulled out in 1996 following intimidation.

Late Monday, the UN Security Council unanimously condemned the violence in Zimbabwe. This news is of critical significance because it marks the first time Russia and China have publicly denounced the actions of the ruling ZANU-PF party under Robert Mugabe.

The Security Council regrets that the campaign of violence and the restrictions on the political opposition have made it impossible for a free and fair election to take place on 27 June.

I’m still waiting for something we don’t already know. I mean, really. The last time there was a free and fair presidential election in Zimbabwe, Dick Nixon was standing on the steps of Marine One waving back at the White House.

The BBC is reporting that “the US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad said the Security Council was sending a strong message to Mr Mugabe.”

“We were able to get a unanimous statement, sending a clear message that we all want to help the people of Zimbabwe, that there is a need for establishing a legitimate order,” he said.

I applaud the UN Security Council and their actions today, but so far it’s all talk… and no walk. When Morgan backed out yesterday, reporters in Harare said the streets were quiet with the exception of ZANU youth militia marching through the streets chanting, “Win or war!”

Come Friday, election or not, Mugabe will start his 29th year in power.

The photo is from The Times, and shows Zimbabweans lined up to buy bread near a campaign poster of President Robert Mugabe on Monday in Bulawayo.