The 100 Billion Zimbabwe Dollar Bill
This past week, Zimbabwe has introduced a 100 Billion Dollar Bill, which can buy about two loaves of bread (but interestingly they are selling on ebay for about US$100 each). Daily expenses for Zimbabweans are now in the trillions.
Only last week, the Harare Herald advertised the Lotto bonanza prize being offered was 1.2 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars. At the time, that was equivalent to around 4,000 US dollars.
“What is confusing is counting of the figures on your cheques as you try to make sure you are not under or over paying someone, or the struggling to read price tags in shops that have not yet knocked off zeros and so on,” she says.
Tills throughout the country have been struggling to cope, as have banking computers, and accounting systems.
As a result, the banks recently agreed to lop six zeros off transactions and documentation.
Amazingly, this is not the largest note ever printed – Yugoslavia “was forced to issue a 500 billion dinar note in 1993.” And in World War I Germany had a banknote with a face value of 100 trillion marks.
Only two years ago, Zimbabwe introduced the $100,000 bill, which made headlines. It’s nothing now.
Good thing I cashed in my million zimbabwe pixels when I did.
