4 X 250,000,000 ZIMBABWE BANK NOTE UNC BEAUTIFUL

$250,000,000 BEARER CHEQUE X 4. ABSOLUTE UNC.

PRINTED AND RELEASED 2008.

DELETED AND DESTROYED 2008.

SIGNED BY GIDEON GONO.

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALL THE BEARER CHEQUES AND IS VERY QUICKLY BECOMING RARE.

INFLATION IS NOW INTO THE BILLIONS.

UNOFFICIAL ESTIMATES AT 1.5 BILLION%

FREE POST AND PACKAGING AND INSURANCE.

THESE NOTES ARE AB PREFIX. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET AA PREFIX ANYMORE.

POST ANY WHERE IN THE WORLD.

DELIVERY TIME IS DEPENDANT ON YOUR LOCATION.

NORMALLY BETWEEN 3 AND 14 DAYS.

Sellers: Delight buyers. Get your own map of past buyers.

Zimbabwe hyperinflation 'will set world record within six weeks'

Inflation levels in Zimbabwe are running at 13.2 billion per cent a month and could reach an all-time world record within weeks.

 

By Sebastien Berger, Southern Africa Correspondent
Last Updated: 5:34PM GMT 13 Nov 2008

Supermarkets in Harare are accepting only US dollars and South African rands, leaving those Zimbabweans without access to foreign currency in dire straits Photo: EPA

The latest figures put the country's annual rate at 516 quintillion per cent – 516 followed by 18 zeros – overtaking Yugoslavia in 1994 and putting it behind only Hungary in 1946.

With goods unavailable and official statistics widely distrusted, the Cato Institute in Washington calculated the figures based on exchange rate movements and market data.

In post Second World War Hungary monthly inflation reached 12,950,000,000,000,000 per cent, with prices doubling every 15.6 hours – Zimbabwean prices are currently doubling every 1.3 days.

The most famous hyperinflation, Weimar Germany in 1923, is in a distant fourth place, at 29,525 per cent a month with prices doubling every 3.7 days.

Prof Steve Hanke said: "They still have a way to go to catch Hungary, but they are getting there. This is conjecture, but if they keep going at this pace, they have a shot at it within a month or maybe a month-and-a-half at the outside."

For ordinary Zimbabweans, the consequences are appalling and they must spend money as soon as they get it before it loses its value.

But the dysfunctional economy means that goods are in desperately short supply, and they must spend hours foraging to find things to buy.

There comes a point, though, where the inflation rate makes little practical difference.

"The economy just stops functioning or slows down very much," said Prof Hanke. "A lot of barter takes place. Money is not used as much or if it is, it's all foreign exchange." Supermarkets in Harare are accepting only US dollars and South African rands, leaving those Zimbabweans without access to foreign currency in dire straits.

The latest official figure for inflation in Zimbabwe – dating back to July – is 231 million per cent a year. Robert Mugabe's government blames foreign sanctions for the economic turmoil.

Prof Hanke said the only way to stop the rise was to abolish the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe – which is a key tool of the regime.

"At the end of the day, people will just refuse to use the money. It will be just worthless and the Reserve Bank will be useless too. The only way you can change expectations about inflation in hyper-inflating countries is completely get rid of the old system."

Announcing a range of measures this week, that only tinker with symptoms of the problem, Gideon Gono, the governor of the reserve bank, blamed a “breed of selfish and unrelenting money launderers and speculators” for the crisis.

“The nation has to appreciate the magnitude of the 'sanctions’ and the mightiness of the enemies who are at play in order to understand that we are at war,” he said.

For years, analysts and opposition politicians have predicted that the economy would prove to be Mr Mugabe's downfall, but Prof Hanke, who is professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, said that Slobodan Milosevic survived for almost eight years in Yugoslavia after hyperinflation peaked.

"The idea hyperinflation is going to blow Mugabe out of there isn't based on historical experience.

"Milosevic and Mugabe are similar in more ways than one: the restrictions on liberty of all sorts; Milosevic carrying on just like Mugabe that it was the foreign sanctions that were ruining the economy. It's very similar."

RBZ slashes 12 zeros

NO MORE ZEROS THEY HAVE GONE FOR EVER.
The Herald
2009 02 03
Business Editor
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has removed 12 zeros from the Zimbabwe dollar, broadened the foreign currency licensing framework and relaxed exchange control regulations as part of a cocktail of measures to jump-start the economy.
A new family of currency denominations, ranging from $ 1 to $ 500, has been introduced with immediate effect while the old currency already in circulation will remain legal tender until June 30, this year.
As was intimated in the National Budget statement last week, all businesses, right from the largest company to the street vendor, will now be allowed to sell their goods and services in foreign currency.
They will be required to apply for special foreign exchange licences, under which they will pay an annual fee ranging from US$ 10 once-off for hawkers and US$ 12 000 annually depending on location and nature of business.
These measures further endorse the adoption of a multiple currency trading system announced by Acting Finance Minister Senator Patrick Chinamasa last Thursday.
The entire commercial sector has now become an export processing zone, a strategy meant to increase the number of participants across the entire economic spectrum, ultimately increasing the availability of goods and services.
A base exchange rate of Z$ 2 (revalued) to the South African rand and Z$ 20 to the US dollar came into effect yesterday. Its movement, starting from today, will be determined in the market with all foreign currency transactions effected at the going rate.
Presenting his Monetary Policy Statement, dubbed "Turning Our Difficulties Into Opportunities - Exports, Forex, Exports", in Harare yesterday, RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono stressed that the new measures were not tantamount to dollarisation, but are a strategy to liberalise the economy.
"This is a tailor-made strategic intervention that is meant to bring convenience to the general public, as well as supporting productive efficiencies, whilst at the same time preserving the sovereign Zimbabwe dollar by giving it company among other currencies of choice, which is the essence of multi-currencying," he said.
The revaluation of the dollar and the new dual pricing framework under which Dr Gono directed that goods and services be quoted in both Zimdollars and foreign currency would help shore up the domestic currency.
The pricing formulae would be based on the inter-bank market-determined exchange rate.
"Even in the face of the current economic and political difficulties confronting the economy, the Zimbabwe dollar ought to and must remain the nation’s currency, so as to safeguard our national identity and sovereignty," he said.
The RBZ chief said 2009 would mark the turning point for the country’s economic fortunes. Progress would be premised on hard work, honesty and sacrifice.
Vouchers, which would be given as an allowance for civil servants, will be issued with a US$ 100 value apiece, to be used as cash to purchase goods and pay for services.
Traders will then bank them, after which they will be forwarded to the central bank where they will be debited against Government’s foreign currency collections.
Sen Chinamasa announced last week that the voucher system would be an interim measure to facilitate access to a basket of goods and services for civil servants.
Dr Gono challenged banks to adapt to the new economic dispensation and come up with products that would encourage foreign currency to circulate in the formal system.
"It is now time for the (banking) industry to develop aggressive marketing strategies, incentives and products that promote banking in foreign currency, especially by individuals," he said.
Bank charges for FCAs will be levied in foreign currency.
Dr Gono also encouraged banks to install Point of Sale machines and other systems in foreign exchange trading areas and to issue debit cards such as the Mastercard or Visa to enable FCA customers to transact both locally and internationally.
"You asked for it and we have given it to you," he said in apparent reference to the request for further economic liberalisation.