| |
Back to Index
Home again
Trudy Stevenson
November 04, 2008
I came home Sunday after
being away a few weeks, and although I was expecting the Zimdollar
to have slipped further, etc, I was not prepared for the shock as
I ran around organising myself again yesterday. This is what I found.
On Sunday, John Robertson warned me the banking sector had collapsed.
Monday at the bank, I was informed that US$ 100 would buy me Z$
50,000 - which is a rate of 500-1. The few people in the bank were
complaining bitterly, and saying openly they would go onto the street
instead. Sure enough, at the corner by Borrowdale Primary, a Standard
newspaper cost Z$ 100,000 or 2 US. This means that the street rate
there was 50,000 - 1, or 100 times the bank rate!
At Spar supermarket, a loaf of bread cost Z$ 110,000. At the official
bank rate, this was the equivalent of US$ 220, for a loaf of bread!!
At the street rate, it cost US$ 2.
Various other prices: car licence for a year - Z$ 1,5 Million (plus
penalty 0.5 Million not doing it in time!) Bread roll - 0.20 US.
Breakfast cereals - 4-6 US . oranges etc - 2-5 US/kg, mealie meal
7 US for 10 kg. At this supermarket, only standard bread was available
in Z$, everything else US only and there was no milk, eggs, marge,
butter, cooking oil, salt...A vendor was selling eggs at 8 US per
tray of 30.
Today I discovered that the real street rate is around 100,000 -
110,000 - 1 (the Standard vendor was trying it on!) whereas there
is another astronomical rate for cheques if you shop around, up
to around a Trillion-1. They call this "burning" and it
would certainly burn the Z$ fast! On the other hand, to be treated
at the Trauma Centre you have to put down a deposit of US$ 500,
then you get a bank cheque in Zim for whatever amount the treatment
(assuming you would have such an astronomical amount in your account!),
and they will then return your deposit. Government hospitals are
closed or closing, and have no drugs or staff in any case.
Meanwhile there was no water, no electricity and no telephone landline
at my house again yesterday or today - but both electricity and
phone came back on tonight (hence this email!). Water for the high
density areas of Glen View and Budiriro has been handed over to
the Civil Protection Unit because of the increasing incidence of
cholera. Econet is planning to cancel all contract mobile telephone
lines imminently, I hear, and we will have to buy international
calling cards in forex.
One wonders whether any of the negotiating "principals"
has talked to ordinary people trying to cope with the daily struggle
for survival recently. I can only pray that SADC manages to resolve
the impasse over the power-sharing agreement this weekend, so that
we can begin to return our poor country to something like normality.
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
