Zim phasing out local currency

Zimbabweans given just £3.25 for life savings by bankrupt government

Zimbabweans offered £3.25 for life savings say Robert Mugabe "stole" their money after being offered less than "five quid" for life's savings

Many Zimbabweans who saved for their old age will be offered £3.25 for their life's savings and pensions by the country's bankrupt government.

Zimbabwe's central bank this week said it would pay less than £5 to all those who held Zimbabwe dollar bank accounts and pensions when it abandoned its domestic currency late 2008.

A Zimbabwean money changer piles up the black market equivalent of US$ 1000 (approximately 5 million Zimbabwe dollars)

A Zimbabwean money changer piles up the black market equivalent of US$ 1000 (approximately 5 million Zimbabwe dollars) in 2003 (Reuters)

"It is a gross injustice," said veteran economist John Robertson: "I certainly lost my life's savings, my pension. If I wasn't still working today I would be destitute, but I can't retire."

A former horticulturist, now living in Durban, South Africa, and who asked not to be named to protect his remaining family in Zimbabwe, said: "I am now 69. I started saving when I left school at 17. My bank accounts, personal and commercial and my pension fund evaporated overnight in 2008.

"I was able to buy two loaves of bread with my life's savings at that time.

"Some of our long-serving workers were also left destitute. Mr Mugabe stole our money now his cheats and thieves are going to give us less than five quid for those assets. It is outrageous." With empty supermarkets and no foreign currency in the treasury, central bank governor Gideon Gono, who is not only President Robert Mugabe's personal banker, but was his wife Grace's former lover, lavished foreign money on Zanu PF heavyweights.

He gave some of them expensive farm machinery, sometimes charging them less than £10 for top-of the-range American tractors and combine harvesters.

In 2007 Mr Gono sent nearly £1m to South Africa for Mrs Mugabe to buy a fleet of commercial vehicles.

Mr Gono was also authorised by Mr Mugabe to confiscate millions of pounds of export earnings from private and corporate bank accounts. That money has never been paid back.

Guardian.co.uk
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McT said:
Anyone know where I get my hands on few of their notes? I'll happily exchange Rands for some of their notes. Guarantee they'll be worth tons more when I eventually sell them on E-Bay. Seriously. It would be fun to own their Reserve Bank.

No for real now... it would be great to own some of their notes. Would make a great conversation piece :)
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Loads of guys are selling them on BoB (ps not mad bob :) )
 
Can someone explain to me how the repayment of loans work during hyperinflation? Say I owe R1 000 000 on my house. SA goes through a period of hyperinflation and two years from now we are printing R10 000 000 notes. Can I then basically just go to the bank and pay off my house for the price of a loaf of bread?
 
JimmyRott said:
Can someone explain to me how the repayment of loans work during hyperinflation? Say I owe R1 000 000 on my house. SA goes through a period of hyperinflation and two years from now we are printing R10 000 000 notes. Can I then basically just go to the bank and pay off my house for the price of a loaf of bread?
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You probably wont be able to pay the loan because you will be starving and wont have enough money for food

EDIT: and the "veterans" would have kicked you out of your home
 
F1 Fan said:
Is that at all possible? Wouldn't it then be better if that? If we had kept the British currency, would we not have been in a much better position today?
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Blame the Nats, they were the ones that wanted the Rand and moved us away from the pound.
 
zippy said:
You probably wont be able to pay the loan because you will be starving and wont have enough money for food

EDIT: and the "veterans" would have kicked you out of your home
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I work with two Zimbabweans and both paid off their bonds within a couple of years.

You have to remember that people like us (professionals) will still receive an annual increase somewhere close to inflation.
 
Ockie , what was the ZAR / USD in 1974 ?

I suspect rand was stronger then the dollar - way before my interest in currencies started but interesting discussion. Will try to goggle that
 
gimpex said:
Ockie , what was the ZAR / USD in 1974 ?

I suspect rand was stronger then the dollar - way before my interest in currencies started but interesting discussion. Will try to goggle that
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Yes, at some point it was stronger than the $ if my memory serves me right. I was not yet born but read about it. Considering that we were hit with severe sanctions the Rand held up remarkably well untill 1994 if you ask me.
 
So without getting the calculator out it weakened roughly 4 x between 1974 and 1994 , as well as 4x between 1994 and 2015.

By this calculation in 2035 ..... Ouch !!
 
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