The Sextillionaires of Zimbabwe

Did you know?

Every Zimbabwean by the end of 2000ies became not even a millionaire, but a sextillionaire! Only a loaf of bread cost the people of this country several trillion dollars (not American, of course, but local ones). The Zimbabwean national currency those years dropped into the deepest inflation pit. In July 2008 a pint of beer rose in price by one and a half times every hour.

At first, the currency of the country, with banknotes of 1, 5 10 and 20 dollars, kept afloat. But already by 2001 the inflation in Zimbabwe had crossed the threshold of 100 per cent. However, the authorities did not undertake anything rather than making up new banknotes of higher and higher denomination. By the end of 2008 the level of inflation in Zimbabwe had reached the record mark of 231'000'000%.

It must be noted that the 100 trillion Zimbabwean bill of 2008 was the largest banknote with this amount of zeros in the world and in history.

Denomination of currency in Zimbabwe took place three times: in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Finally, on June 30, 2009 the Zimbabwean dollar was completely abolished.

Recently in Zimbabwe such currencies as euro, yan, and even Russian rubles are gaining popularity as the settlement currency.

The crisis in Zimbabwe must become a good lesson for politicians in the whole world. Radical reforms seldom do good. And what do you think about it?