Balancing Rocks

  Who would’ve thought that a nation that is said to be the most literate on the African continent would surprisingly become the opposite when it was time to read an economics textbook? As far as the people of Zimbabwe are concerned, economics is about 'kukiya-kiya'. 'Kukiya-kiya'  is a Shona slang term that can be simply translated as 'to improvise'. After all, Aristotle did state that “No great mind ever existed without a touch of madness”. In this post, we shall probe some of the economic miracles, acts of financial McGyvery and monetary gymnastics that have been performed in Zimbabwe over the past 2 decades. 1. Black Friday. Black Friday (a.k.a. the first time the Zimbabwean Dollar crashed) took place on 14 November 1997 when the government of the day paid out ZW$50 000 each to over 60 thousand war veterans. This was completely unbudgeted, and hyperinflation ensued. It was the beginning of the end and the Zimbabwean Dollar never recovered. 2. Standar...

As some of you may remember, in 2008 the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced the  Basic Commodities Supply Side Intervention programme which was popularly known as Bacossi. The programme was to ensure the supply of basic commodities at affordable prices to the low-income households as a means to protecting them from the crippling hyperinflation which was rapidly headed towards 100 million percent. While it was a noble policy at face value, the government simply did not have the funds to execute this and as a result, printed money to finance it thus exacerbating the prevailing hyperinflationary environment. Now, according to the Minister of Industry and Commerce, a similar programme is set to be introduced within the next two months. Once again, this is a noble idea when tested for morality but ludicrous when tested for economic viability. Government is currently saddled with unnecessary indirect subsidies such as fuel, bread, electricity and the $1 ZUPCO buses among other things...