Zimbabwe borrows from bank of bad ideas, again 10 May 2022 With inflation at 96%, Harare plans to stop further currency slumps by a ban on bank lending. That stymies a sly trade where insiders play the spread between official and black-market FX rates. But as with prior moves it’s a blunt tool that erodes rather than builds confidence.
Africa’s debt chickens return to restive roost 31 Dec 2020 Even before Covid-19, the continent faced a reckoning. Low commodity prices remove a major growth pillar, while mounting leverage rules out more foreign borrowing. With budgets and citizens under pressure from Angola to Zimbabwe, Africa Rising looks more like Africa Uprising.
Zimbabwe launches quixotic war on modern finance 14 Jul 2020 The government is blaming South African insurer Old Mutual and phone-based payment systems for a currency collapse. Its fondness of money printing is the more likely culprit. Attacking the stock market and mobile money will damage savings and confidence, and spur capital flight.
Mugabe gave Zimbabwe freedom from monetary logic 6 Sep 2019 The long-serving president, who has died aged 95, presided over hyperinflation more than a decade ago. Yet he stayed in office until 2017. That showed Zimbabweans it was okay to ignore basic fiscal and monetary norms. It’s a legacy his successor seems unable to move on from.
New Zimbabwe dollar heading same way as old one 25 Jun 2019 Robert Mugabe’s successor has banned day-to-day use of foreign currency to promote a new local dollar. Crucially, there are no guarantees against the money-printing that killed its predecessor. Without adequate reserves, exports or popular support, the new unit is likely to fail.
Zimbabwe offers a way to test blockchain’s worth 5 Mar 2019 Even after a 60 pct devaluation, Harare’s monetary credibility is irreparably broken. That should make it an ideal test case for distributed ledgers replacing ropey central banks. Yet citizens’ justifiable distrust of the state doesn’t mean ceding monetary control is an easy fix.
Zimbabwe’s devaluation is a missed opportunity 22 Feb 2019 Harare has conceded that its electronic “zollars” are worth 60 percent less than it had claimed. Yet black market valuations imply the currency is still overvalued. The moves could rile citizens without spurring the investment Zimbabwe sorely needs to fix its battered economy.
African miners get mix of red carpet and red card 8 Feb 2019 The continent can’t work out whether to shake hands with the sector, or shake its fist. Warm welcomes from Ghana, South Africa and Ethiopia contrast with the aggressive resource nationalism of Tanzania. A nasty slowdown there would bolster the open-door approach.
Zimbabwe currency plan is doomed before delivery 14 Jan 2019 Robert Mugabe’s successor wants to ditch the U.S. dollar and introduce a new national money. Its value is bound to dive but any benefits will be fleeting unless Harare can also slash a bloated civil service and break its serial addiction to printing cash. That is unlikely.
Zimbabwe’s soaring stocks are a disaster signal 12 Oct 2018 Harare’s bourse leapt 66 percent this week even as global equities sagged. That reflects crumbling faith in cash and banks rather than confidence in the economy. The southern African country is in such a sorry state that shares are a rare source of sanctuary.
Zimbabwe’s renewal hinges on trio of tricky fixes 3 Aug 2018 Emmerson Mnangagwa has won the presidential elections. His challenge is to devalue the national currency while convincing global institutions to extend credit and tackle a spiralling debt load. That’s a big ask, but the country faces a dark future if he doesn’t at least try.
The Exchange: Jim Rogers 22 Nov 2017 The longtime Asia bull and Quantum Fund co-founder thinks the worst bear market of his lifetime is coming. He swung by our Hong Kong bureau to discuss the risks, as well as Trump’s Asia tour and why America could become its own worst enemy if it lets China dominate the region.
Mugabe will cast a long shadow over Zimbabwe 20 Nov 2017 The 93-year-old ruler is likely to be impeached after nearly four decades in power. He bequeaths an economy in urgent need of reforms. The most important – attracting foreign investment and restoring trust in the currency system – will happen over years, not weeks.
Upheaval could leave Zimbabwe further adrift 15 Nov 2017 An army takeover augurs change, but not a solution to the African nation’s economic problems, which include a bloated civil service and a currency crisis. Governments can change overnight, but bringing back human and financial capital – and fresh investment – is slow work.
Viewsroom: Trump budgets his way to la-la land 25 May 2017 Basic economics - and decency - fall by the wayside in the administration’s pitch that it can create $2 trln of revenue by cutting $3.6 trln of costs. OPEC and U.S. fields battle for oil supremacy. Zimbabwe invents the zollar. And Bill Ford escapes his CEO’s crash unscathed.
Zimbabwe takes monetary lunacy to the next level 22 May 2017 The African state suffered hyperinflation in 2007 after paying bills by printing its own currency. A decade on, it is doing so by printing U.S. dollars instead. The idea of conjuring foreign currency from nowhere with the tap of a keyboard sounds too good to be true – and is.
Zimbabwe’s new quasi-currency fails the smell test 29 Nov 2016 The sub-Saharan state is issuing dollar-backed "bond notes" as a means of payment. It's an attempt to ease the huge trade deficit which is sucking hard currency out of Zimbabwe. But it requires citizens to trust the central bank responsible for the country’s hyperinflation.
Zimbabwe’s 15-digit money woe is mercifully rare 12 Jun 2015 The African nation is paying one U.S. dollar for every 35,000,000,000,000,000 of its old scrapped scrip. Zimbabwe is a byword for monetary disaster but the outcome is unusual. It shows it takes truly exceptional incompetence to create hyperinflation.
Asset grab a new twist in platinum’s tale of woe 15 Mar 2012 Impala Platinum’s cave-in over control of a Zimbabwe mine is bad news for an already-struggling industry. Labour strife, deadly mines and spiralling costs make it hard for producers to earn reasonable returns on the white metal, despite high prices and an effective oligopoly.