On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:46:33 +0100, wrote:

"Hugh Brodie" wrote in message
m...

wrote in message
...
"Hugh Brodie" wrote in message
...

Speaking of hyper-inflation, it's fun looking at the website of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe http://www.rbz.co.zw to see the daily exchange
rate of the $Z vs the $US. Yesterday, it was 5,817,000,000; today it's
6,718,000,000. They have just issued $Z 50,000,000,000 notes ("bearer
cheques"). And it will cost you $Z 1,800,000,000 to mail a postcard to
the US. http://www.zimpost.co.zw/postalrates.html


It's a shame that there are no images of currently circulating Zimbabwean
notes or coins.

A few notes here - buying a beer in Hara
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgur...%3Den%26sa%3DG


Interesting. Are people in Zimbabwe using a foreign currency, such as the
dollar or the rand, to purchase things or to hedge against a devaluing
currency? I would think that it would be difficult to actually carry around
such large volumes of currency.

ITYF the USD is a universal black-market currency in countries where
the economy has gone tits-up, possibly accompanied to a lesser degree
by Sterling and Euros or any more local "trusted" foreign currency.