whats the zim exchange up to now??

I get a daily news summary email from www.zwnews.com. According to an article published 9-29 for small transactions the exchange rate is 1200-1300 Zim dollars for 1 US dollar and 1500 to 1 for large transactions. Keep in mind that Gono, the finance minister just recently devalued the currency by lopping off three zeros. The effective pre-devaluation rate would now be 1,200,000 to 1,500,000 Zim dollars to 1 US dollar. As a practical matter their currency is almost useless. I first signed up for the daily emails when I returned from Zim for the first time four years ago. You can go to the website and do the same. I must warn anyone reading this that after four years I tend to skip over them quickly as the news has always been bad and gotten progessively worse. I would have thought that Zim would have hit bottom by now, but it just goes on and on. However, that land is God's country and if possible I will always go hunting there.



You can borrow money (but not Zim dollars for God sake), but you can't borrow time. Go Now.

I suspect that Ganyana is presently off tormenting the hell out of appy's on their proficiency exams.

At the end of August the rate was between 550 to 750:1. With 1200% inflation that can expect to change considerably each month.

To be quite honest they should link ALL THE ZIM'S notes together like sh.t house paper and hang them rolls in ALL the public toilets in Harare so the bewildered citizens can see the (true worth of their money) everytime they go to the crap house to contemplate.

And when the (old zim notes) run out they should then replace them IMMEDIATELY if not sooner with (US Dollars Currency) notes, and although that wont actually solve their inflation or economic problems, at least they will have a (tradable world currency) that most sane people can relate to.

In Zambia the US dollar is incresingly being used (unilaterally in some instances) as the optimum currency note of trade and payment, with GOOD success.

If Madmax Mugabe can at the stroke of a quill delete three zeros THEN how about he use what percentage of a brain he has left, to adopt the US Dollar. Or is my suggestion tooooooooooooooo simple for him to understand

Cheers, Peter

Ganyana are for the moment working with the Zim PH examination. He will be back on the 9th Oct.

Husky

If you think it's bad now, just wait and see - a recent article in ZWNEWS stated that the IMF had predicted that, if Mugabe doesn't adopt sensible fiscal policies, that inflation could top 4,000% in 2007!

thanks for the info guys - i just keep wondering where bottom is & what happens to all those good people i know there

The question I would like to ask from ganyana, or anyone else who knows, is: What is the official vs. balackmarket US $ exchange rate these days?

Thanks,

Andrew McLaren

Bac in town on 16th

Today

Official 250:1
Black market in Kariba 1350:1

Fuel Z$1300-1400 per l

Yeeeehaaaaaw! My U.S. dollars just doubled in value since last month.

Ganyana:

I really am not trying to depress you - BUT (you knew that was coming, didn't you?) in 1993 on my one and only trip to Africa (sadly) I stayed overnight in a hotel in Harare before leaving for the bush. The room was decent enough and I slept comfortably. Next morning, when checking out, the bill was presented. It was $1200! The desk clerk took pity on my probable look of shock -and explained that the bill was in Zimbabwe dollars -and that the official exchange rate was about 6-1. Inflation is a tragedy for those who have to live with inflated currency. I had the great advantage of having a "hard" currency so I didn't have to live with it. It is heartless to gloat about it. Just my thoughts.

And in 1993 a principal ecologist or provincial warden in parks ( or a leutenant colonel in the army) cleared 6300 per month plus travel and subsistance claims - ie just over US$1000 per month.

They now earn Z$80,000 per month or US$75. A game scout or police constable earms a whole US$27.5

How are wages for the black boots (police auxiliary unit)?