“Given what is happening in the currency market, any Zimbabwean who experienced the 2008 economic crisis […] should not only be shaking in his boots, but also having sleepless nights,” summarizes the independent Zimbabwean daily NewsDay in an editorial.
A few days after the authorities’ decision to devalue the ZiG, the local currency, panic gripped the country. Zimbabwe fears a repeat of the hyperinflation crisis of 2008, which saw prices explode by several hundred billion percent in a few months while the currency of the time, the Zimbabwean dollar, collapsed.
First symptom of this accelerating crisis: some stores have started to ration purchases, reports the South African media News24. No more“one item per person” for products like milk. The goal: to stop panic buying “provoked by the new loss of confidence in the country’s currency”.
43% devaluation
The decision taken by the authorities on September 27 to officially devalue the ZiG by 43% is at the origin of this panic. The objective: to try to stabilize the currency by bringing the currency closer to its real value, which has continued to
