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PrintAugust 19, 2007
Zimbabwe Collapse "In Four Months"
Robert Mugabe has been running the Zimbabwe economy into the ground and according to this article in The Telegraph, it is just a matter of months before the once prosperous former British colony collapses into economic and political ruin:
The economy of Zimbabwe is facing total collapse within four months, leaving the country facing a slide into Congo-style anarchy, The Sunday Telegraph has been told.The inflation rate stands at 13,000% (not a typo). More than 80% of the people live below the poverty line and are unemployed. The leading Archbishop in the country recently begged Great Britain to invade.
Western officials fear the business, farming and financial sectors may be crippled by Christmas, triggering a collapse of government control that could leave the country prey to warlords and ignite long-suppressed tribal tensions.
The stark warning of the scale of the crisis comes despite the welcome given to Mr Mugabe by fellow African leaders at a summit in neighbouring Zambia last week, where critics had hoped he might be pressurised into changing his policies.
It also follows reports that Britain's military is reviewing contingency plans to evacuate more than 20,000 Britons, were any widespread state of emergency to occur.
A look at the website for the Zimbabwean National Bank is like walking through wonderland. The official exchange rate for the dollar is 250 Zimbabwean dollars. The parallel rate is 400,000 to the dollar.
And how about this matter of fact blurb:
Memorandum to the Gold Mining Sector: The gold support price has been increased from Z$350,000 per gramme to Z$3 million per gramme.
This is a nation in deep trouble. And western experts are concerned that rebuilding Zimbabwe will prove extremely difficult given the systemic problems that have now ruined the economy and shortly, they say, bring ruin to the country.
