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IN BRIEF: Zimbabwe's new economic frontier
23 Jan 2009 17:39:19 GMT
 Source: IRIN

Background

•  Zimbabwe crisis

•  Zimbabwe hunger

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HARARE, 23 January 2009 (IRIN) - As the official Zimbabwe dollar withers away as a unit of value – despite the recent launch of a trillion dollar note – alternative currencies are emerging in the hyperinflationary whirl.

If you are lucky, in your wallet you may have US dollars, South African rand, Botswana pula or Zambian kwacha. But also accepted on the informal-turned-formal market are petrol coupons or pre-paid phone cards – almost anything denominated in a convertible foreign currency.

And then there is old-fashioned barter, which has made a comeback. In Mashonaland Central Province, in the north of the country, a full-grown cow can be had for five 50kg bags of maize-meal – the equivalent of roughly US$165. A goat is a snip at just one 12.5kg bag – about US$8.50. In both rural and urban areas, even second-hand clothes have an exchange value.

How is value determined? "Value is based on how much you need something," said one NGO worker.

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Zimbabwe's opposition Movement For Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai drinks treated water at Budiriro Polyclinic in Harare January 22, 2009 during his visit to cholera affected areas. Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic ...


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Last updated:Fri Jan 23 17:39:50 2009