I have to admit, at first I assumed that this IRIN report was simply quoting someone making up an absurd sounding number to make a point about inflation in Zimbabwe. But it turns out that while the last official figure was 231-million percent, the real figures are much higher:
In the absence of credible official statistics, Hanke developed a hyperinflation index for Zimbabwe and in an article in the December 2008 issue of the financial magazine, Forbes Asia, put the annual inflation rate at around 6.5 quindecillion novemdecillion percent – 65 followed by 107 zeros. “Prices double every 24.7 hours,” he noted. “Shops have simply stopped accepting Zimbabwean dollars.”
Zimbabwe just issued the world's first 100 trillion dollar note. The numbers in Zimbabwe have long been incomprehensible. The damage Robert Mugabe has done to his country is incalculable. It has long been past time for him to go, however that has to occur. When SADC heads of state meet in South Africa this coming week, let's hope they have finally reached that same conclusion.
