State Workers’ Pay Loses Value By More Than 90 Percent Thanks To Zimbabwe’s Surging Inflation

When you hear the term inflation, more than likely what will ring in your mind first is Zimbabwe. The country gained fame after it experienced one of the worst ever recorded inflation rates in the world surging up to 500 billion percent in 2008.

And now hyperinflation seems to have made a comeback in the Southern African country. As of August, annual inflation in Zimbabwe was 300 percent, this is according to new data released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and with this figure, the country was said to have the world’s highest inflation rate.

Hyperinflation is causing fluctuation in the prices of goods and services and it is so bad that what you see displayed on a supermarket shelf at the time you are checking in might actually change by the time you are at the counter.

Government workers have been rendered poor by the current surging inflation which has cut the value of their income by over 90 percent, this is according to the main public-sector union said.

Reports indicate that some workers are forced to borrow money from friends in order to pay for transport to their workplaces.

The union is urging the government to create an enabling environment to ensure things continue to run normally.

In June this year, the government reintroduced the Zim dollar making it the sole legal tender. Almost immediately inflation increased to 175 percent raising concerns whether the country was experiencing another hyperinflation.

Currently, Zimbabweans are living one of their worst times having to grapple with the rising cost of living, lack of foreign currencies to run businesses, severe fuel shortages, lack of medical supplies and 18-hour daily power blackouts, among many other challenges.

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