20 Mar 2008 11:17:00 pm

zimbabweans

Drink no small beer


A man paying for a bottle of beer with a thick wad of notes at a local bar in Harare, Zimbabwe, yesterday.
Zimbabweans have to carry huge amounts of money to pay for even the smaller transactions as the southern African nation has the world's highest inflation rate - officially hitting over 100,000 per cent amid chronic shortages of basic commodities.

The currency has plunged further as the government boosts spending ahead of a March 29 election, in which President Robert Mugabe, 84, is seeking to extend his 28-year rule.

On Tuesday, the Zimbabwean dollar changed hands at 55 million to a US dollar, compared with 35 million last week, said dealers who trade foreign exchange illegally.