Zimbabweans hunted out coins squirreled away years ago in jars and cupboards and headed for the shops, where lines built up as overburdened tellers used to counting mounds of hyper-inflated dollar notes instead were juggling silver.
The central bank, overwhelmed by stratospheric inflation in the millions of percentile, this week cut 10 zeros from the currency and reintroduced coins made obsolete in 2002 when they became worthless. A one-dollar coin now is worth 10 billion of the old dollars.
On Friday, about 20 one-dollar coins or 200 billion Zimbabwe dollars could buy a loaf of scarce bread if it could be found in a downtown supermarket. That is about (U.S.)$5 at the official rate and $2 at the black market rate that better reflects the value of the currency. "It has been a chaotic day," said Farayi Chikomba, a teller filling plastic banking bags with coins at a small supermarket at closing time. "Customers have been digging out their old coins." Lines built up as staff counted the coins. |